A mutation that confers a phenotype on a cell such that when grown on a certain medium only those cells with the mutation will grow. For example, the mutation rpsL1 makes cells resistant to the antibiotic streptomycin -- when grown on medium with streptomycin rpsL1 mutants will grow but rpsL+ cells will die.
A gene carried by a vector and conferring a recognizable characteristic on a cell containing the vector or a recombinant DNA molecule derived from it.
a gene inserted into a cell or organism to allow the modified form to be selectively amplified while unmodified organisms are eliminated
a gene the product of which provides for biocide or viral resistance, resistance to heavy metals, prototrophy to auxotrophs, and the like
a gene the productof which provides for biocide or viral resistance, resistance to heavy metals, prototrophy toauxotrophs, and the like
a genetic determinant which makes it possible to provide culture conditions which favour the growth of cells possessing the marker, compared to cells which do not
A gene which is usually constitutively expressed and allows the selection of cells which carry it through growth on a selective medium. The most common example is the use of the ß-lactamase gene in plasmid vectors to confer ampicillin resistance on the host cell.
A gene, usually encoding resistance to an antibiotic, added to a vector construct to allow easy selection of cells that contain the construct from the large majority of cells that do not.
A gene, often encoding resistance to an antibiotic or an herbicide, introduced into a group of cells to allow identification of those cells that contain the gene of interest from the cells that do not. Selectable markers are used in genetic engineering to facilitate identification of cells that have incorporated another desirable trait that is not easy to identify in individual cells.
A selectable marker is a gene introduced into a cell, especially a bacterium or to cells in culture, that confers a trait suitable for artificial selection. They are a type of reporter gene used in laboratory microbiology, molecular biology, and genetic engineering to indicate the success of a transfection or other procedure meant to introduce foreign DNA into a cell. Selectable markers are often antibiotic resistance genes; bacteria that have been subjected to a procedure to introduce foreign DNA are grown on a medium containing an antibiotic, and those bacterial colonies that can grow have successfully taken up and expressed the introduced genetic material.