List of 9 Plasmid Vector Repositories for Cloning

Author: Aimee Malzahn

Disclaimer: PlantGENE leadership does not endorse the products or services of any private or public organizations listed below. Details provided are for informative purposes only.

Plasmid repositories are a collection of plasmid vectors available for use in molecular cloning. These are important community resources and often maintained at no- or low-cost to researchers. Below, 9 plasmid repositories located in the United States and Europe are briefly described. This list is by no means comprehensive, but includes some of the largest and most well-known repositories.

Browse these repositories for your next molecular cloning projects:

  • Addgene
    • Probably the largest plasmid repository, Addgene distributes plasmids and kits globally. Addgene also provides discounts to labs on a case-by-case basis.
    • https://www.addgene.org/
    • https://help.addgene.org/hc/en-us/articles/206133475-My-lab-cannot-afford-the-standard-prices-do-you-offer-discounts
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  • Standard European Vector Architecture (SEVA) 4.0
    • SEVA is operated from the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in Spain. Plasmids are distributed to academic and non-profit labs pro-bono.
    • https://seva-plasmids.com/
    • Original paper describing SEVA: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3531073/#:~:text=The%20SEVA%20platform%20involves%20the,any%20restriction%20sites%20that%20punctuate
  • Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center
    • ABRC is maintained by The Ohio State University and contains a number of plasmids, including selection markers and genome engineering kits.
    • https://abrc.osu.edu/
  • Belgian Coordinated Collection of Microorganisms/GeneCorner
    • https://bccm.belspo.be/
    • The BCCM/GeneCorner is part of Ghent University and VIB-UGent, with funding support from the Belgian Science Policy. The collection also includes kits and a library for silencing most genes in Arabidopsis.
    • https://bccm.belspo.be/catalogues/lmbp-gst-clones
  •  VIB-UGENT
    • https://gatewayvectors.vib.be/gateway-vectors
    • VIB-UGENT’s collection is supported by the Plant Genome Editing group and the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology. The collection includes GreenGate, Gateway, and Golden Gate vectors.
    • Thomas Jacobs, head of the Plant Genome Editing group, gave a talk titled “The perils and pitfalls of high-throughput genome editing in plants” which included details about his cloning workflow.
    • Link to Tom Jacob’s talk: https://plantgene.sivb.org/plantgene-events/workshop-high-throughput-screening-tools-for-traits-and-vector-elements/
  • iGEM
    • https://parts.igem.org/Plasmid_backbones/Assembly
    • iGEM is a non-profit organization focused on synthetic biology. Probably best known for their student competitions, iGEM also provides support for startups, educational resources, and a plasmid repository. Only labs registered as an iGEM team can request plasmids.
  • European Plasmid Repository
    • https://www.plasmids.eu
    • The European Plasmid Repository was founded by the German Cancer Research Center and Dr. Aurelio Teleman. While their stated aim is to provide plasmids to the biomedical community, their collection also includes useful plant plasmids that are provided for at-cost prices.

Disclaimer: PlantGENE leadership does not endorse the products or services of any private or public organizations listed above. Details provided are for informative purposes only.