Cashmere goat bacterial artificial chromosome recombination and cell transfection system

Abstract:

The Cashmere goat is mainly used to produce cashmere, which is very popular for its delicate fiber, luscious softness and natural excellent warm property. Keratin associated protein (KAP) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) of the Cashmere goat play an important role in the proliferation and development of cashmere fiber follicle cells. Bacterial artificial chromosome containing kap6.3, kap8.1 and bmp4 genes were used to increase the production and quality of cashmere. First, we constructed bacterial artificial chromosomes by homology recombination. Then Tol2 transposon was inserted into bacterial artificial chromosomes that were then transfected into Cashmere goat fibroblasts by amaxa nucleofector technology according to the manufacture’s instructions. We successfully constructed the BAC-Tol2 vectors containing target genes. Each vector contained egfp report gene with UBC promoter, Neomycin resistant gene for cell screening and two loxp elements for resistance removing after transfected into cells. The bacterial artificial chromosome-Tol2 vectors showed a high efficiency of transfection that can reach 1% to 6% with a highest efficiency of 10%. We also obtained Cashmere goat fibroblasts integrated exogenous genes (kap6.3, kap8.1 and bmp4) preparing for the clone of Cashmere goat in the future. Our research demonstrates that the insertion of Tol2 transposons into bacterial artificial chromosomes improves the transfection efficiency and accuracy of bacterial artificial chromosome error-free recombination.