Andrea, Our experience with whole gene synthesis is that it often does not increase levels of expression (or hurt), but it does allow one to more efficiently make lots of "daughter" constructs from the original "parent" construct. Most companies will charge X for the parent construct depending on the length, and then will provide the daughter constructs at a much lower cost since the DNA is being made anyway for the original. One can also design in restriction sites to allow for more efficient design afterwards. It is likely that by trying several different truncations (N and C termini, large and small), you will increase your chances of success. The above being said, we are occasionally surprised to get increases, so it is always worth a try.
Ray Stevens ________________________________ From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Looney, Andrea Lynn (Andrea Hevrdeys) Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 7:29 AM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK Subject: [ccp4bb] Codon Optimized Expression Dear All, I am getting very little (not zero) expression of my protein. I am curious to know if it is worthwhile to codon optimize my gene, which is ~1200bp, for E.coli. Can you have "too much of a good thing"? Can codon optimizing overwhelm the cell or in some way cause death or lowered expression? Thank you all, Andrea L. Hevrdeys