Patent ID: 7022501

Claim:
A method of ligating a double-stranded end of a first double-stranded DNA and a single-stranded end of second double-stranded DNA, wherein the method comprises: a) contacting, in the presence of a homologous recombination protein, the single-stranded end of said second double-stranded DNA and the double-stranded end of said first double-stranded DNA, wherein the nucleotide sequence of one strand of said first double-stranded end is homologous to the nucleotide sequence of said single-stranded end, to form a three-stranded structure comprising said single-stranded end and said double-stranded end, and b) completing the ligation by converting the three-stranded structure into a double-stranded structure by inserting a DNA complex comprising the three-stranded structure into cells and replicating it therein; wherein the homologous recombination protein is a Rec A protein.