Patent ID: 7521242

Claim:
A method for inducing homologous recombination in a bacterial host cell comprising a target nucleic acid, the method comprising: introducing a single-stranded nucleic acid molecule or double-stranded nucleic acid molecule into the bacterial host cell, wherein the single-stranded nucleic acid molecule or double-stranded nucleic acid comprises a sufficient number of nucleotides homologous to the target nucleic acid to enable homologous recombination with the target nucleic acid, and wherein the bacterial host cell comprises a de-repressible promoter operably linked to a nucleic acid encoding a single-stranded binding protein wherein the bacterial host cell is deficient for the production of MutH, MutS, uvrD or MutL such that the bacterial host cell is deficient for mismatch repair, wherein the bacterial host cell is an E. coli host cell; and inducing expression of the single-stranded binding protein in the bacterial host cell; thereby inducing homologous recombination of the single-stranded nucleic acid molecule or the double stranded nucleic acid molecule with the target nucleic acid in the bacterial host cell.