Principle
The technique utilises the inherent biological activity of DNA topoisomerase I. The biological role of topoisomerase is to cleave and rejoin supercoiled DNA ends to facilitate replication. Vaccinia virus topoisomerase I specifically recognises DNA sequence 5ยด-(C/T)CCTT-3'. During replication, the enzyme digests DNA specifically at this sequence, unwinds the DNA and re-ligates it again at the 3' phosphate group of the thymidine base.
Read more about this topic: TOPO Cloning
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