Beta-galactosidase gene | Escherichia coli (ECOLX) | BCH-GENE-SCBD-45875 | Genetic element | Biosafety Clearing-House

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Genetic element (GENE)
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published: 18 Jul 2008 last updated: 24 Feb 2014
General information
Beta-galactosidase gene
EN
CS-betagal-ECOLI
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Protein coding sequence
No
Donor organism
EN
Characteristics of the protein coding sequence
ß-Galactosidase
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β-galactosidase is a hydrolase enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of β-galactosides into monosaccharides. Substrates of different β-galactosidases include ganglioside GM1, lactosylceramides, lactose, and various glycoproteins.

It is commonly used in molecular biology as a reporter marker to monitor gene expression. It also exhibits a phenomenon called α-complementation which forms the basis for the blue/white screening of recombinant clones. This enzyme can be split in two peptides, LacZα and LacZΩ, neither of which is active by itself but when both are present together, spontaneously reassemble into a functional enzyme.
EN
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Living Modified Organism Introduced or modified genetic element(s) 6