A genetic elements construct is a representation of the gene cassettes present in a given LMO. These are often genes or protein coding sequences with their corresponding regulatory genetic elements, such as promoters and terminators. The constructs often mirror the genetic elements and their orientation present in the transformation vector.

A genetic elements construct is built within a LMO record to indicate the genetic elements present, how they form gene cassettes, specify their orientation (sense or anti-sense) and their order within the inserted genetic material. Please note that you do not need to specify genetic element(s) in the "Introduced or modified genetic element(s)" before you start building the construct. The constructed genetic elements will be added automatically in that field.

HOW TO BUILD a ‘genetic element construct’:

Step 1: On the “Submission form” of the LMO record, click on Add Construct in the “Genetic elements construct” field.

A pop-up “Gene Construct” box will appear containing 6 ‘building blocks’ (representing promoters, transcribed elements and terminators in both sense and anti-sense directions), a ‘Drop location’ and a space to remove genetic elements. 

Step 2: Drag the ‘building blocks’ into the Drop location box.

If the order is incorrect or the wrong ‘piece’ was dragged into the box, you can delete the element by dragging it to the ‘Drag the shape here to remove the construct’ box on the right.

Step 3: To select the genetic element, click on select gene.

A new pop-up box will appear. The specific genetic element can then be found using the search bar, or from the list of all genetic elements. A preview of the genetic element can be read by clicking on the genetic element in the list. 

Step 4: Find your genetic element, click on the check mark (circle) and then click Select. If the genetic element does not exist, you can also create it inline.

Step 5: After an element has been selected, the size can be manually entered in the new box that appears. Please note that the size is kilobases and three decimal places are accepted.

Step 6: Once completed, click on Save to input the new construct into the LMO format.

The process above can be repeated for each genetic construct or gene cassette present in the LMO. Each element will appear as a separate row.

Once created, three icons appear on the left side of the constructs: 

• The ‘pencil’ icon allows you to make changes or edit the construct.
• The ‘trash bin’ icon deletes the construct.
• The ‘arrows’ allow you to move the rows up and down.