pPCV, a versatile vector for cloning PCR products

The efficiency of PCR product cloning depends on the nature of the DNA polymerase employed because amplicons may have blunt-ends or 3' adenosines overhangs. Therefore, for amplicon cloning, available commercial vectors are either blunt-ended or have a single 3' overhanging thymidine. The aim of this work was to offer in a single vector the ability to clone both types of PCR products. For that purpose, a minimal polylinker was designed to include restriction sites for EcoRV and XcmI which enable direct cloning of amplicons bearing blunt-ends or A-overhangs, respectively, still offering blue/white selection. When tested, the resulting vector, pPCV, presented high efficiency cloning of both types of amplicons.