PATENT ABSTRACTS

5179011

P R O C E S S F O R P R O D U C I N G B I O T I N V I T A M E R S U S I N G

N O V E L M I C R O O R G A N I S M S

Jiro Kishimoto, Shinichiro Haze, Ohji Ifuku, Yokohama, Japan assigned to Shiseido Com- pany Ltd

A mutant strain having a glucose consumption rate is at most 1/4 that of wild type strains is pro- vided. The mutant strain belongs to Escherichia, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, or Serratia; has a glucose consumption rate of at most one fourth that of the corresponding wild type strain, and the feedback repression by biotin is removed. Further, a process for producing biotins using this mutant strain is provided.

5179015

H E T E R O S P E C I F I C M O D I F I C A T I O N AS A M E A N S T O

C L O N E R E S T R I C T I O N G E N E S

Geoffrey G Wilson, Marta M Meda assigned to New England Biolabs Inc

The present invention provides a novel ap- proach to the production of restriction enzymes. More specifically, there is provided a novel method for cloning these enzymes, which com- prises preparing DNA libraries from the DNA of an organism that synthesizes the restriction enzyme of interest, creating a suitable host con- raining a heterospecific methyltransferase gene able to protectively modify DNA from digestion by the restriction enzyme of interest, introducing the DNA libraries into the protectively modified host, and screening recombinant organisms to identify those carrying the desired restriction en- zyme gene. The application of this method to the FspI and HaeIII restriction genes of Fischerella species and Haemophilus aegyptius, respec- tively, is described in detail, together with the resulting clones that form the basis of a new and useful process for purifying the FspI and HaeIII restriction enzymes.

5179016

R E S T R I C T I O N E N Z Y M E S S E 83871

Hirokazu Kotani, Fusao Kimizuka, Ikunoshin Kato, Muko, Japan assigned to Takara Shuzo Co Ltd

333

The class II restriction endonuclease Sse 83871 is obtained from Streptomyces Sp 837 (FERM BP- 3028). It recognizes the nucleotide sequence 5'- CCTGCA down arrowGG-3' and cleaves at the position indicated by the arrow.

5179017

P R O C E S S E S F O R I N S E R T I N G D N A I N T O E U C A R Y O T I C C E L L S

A N D F O R P R O D U C I N G P R O T E I N A C E O U S M A T E R I A L S

Richard Axel, Michael H Wigler, Saul J Silver- stein assigned to The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

The present invention relates to processes for in- serting DNA into eucaryotic cells, particularly DNA which includes a gene or genes coding for desired proteinaceous materials for whith no selective criteria exist. The insertion of such DNA molecules is accomplished by cotransfor- ming eucaryotic cells with such DNA together with a second DNA which corresponds to a gene coding for a selectable marker. This invention also concerns processes for producing pro- teinaceous materials such as insulin, interferon protein, growth hormone and the like which in- volve cotransforming eucaryotic cells with DNA which codes for these proteinaceous materials, growing the cotransformed cells for production of the proteinaceous material and recovering the proteinaceous material so produced. The inven- tion further relates to processes for inserting into eucaryotic cells a multiplicity of DNA molecules which includes genes coding for desired pro- teinaceous materials. The insertion of multiple copies of desired genes is accomplished by cotransformation with the desired genes and with amplifiable genes for a dominant selectable marker in the presence of successively higher amounts of an inhibitor. Alternatively, the inser- tion of multiple copies of desired genes is ac- complished by transformation using DNA molecules formed by ligating a DNA molecule including the desired gene to a DNA molecule which includes an amplifiable gene coding for a dominant selectable phenotype such as a gene as- sociated with resistance to a drug in the presence of successively higher amounts of an agent such as a drug against which the gene confers resistance so that only those eucaryotic cells into which multiple copies of the amplifiable gene have been inserted survive. Eucaryotic cells into which multiple copies of the amplifiable gene have been inserted additionally include multiple copies of the desired gene and may be used to