Patent ID: 8877504

Claim:
A method for the selection of recombinant clones, said method comprising: obtaining a prokaryotic host cell comprising in its genome a nucleotide sequence encoding a poison protein; and introducing an insert comprising a first nucleotide sequence encoding a first portion of a functional antidote protein to the poison protein and a second nucleotide sequence of interest, into a third nucleotide sequence encoding a second portion of the functional antidote protein to generate a nucleotide sequence encoding a functional antidote protein to the poison protein, wherein said recombinant clones are the ones which survive following introduction of said nucleotide sequence encoding a functional antidote protein to the poison protein into the host cell; wherein the antidote and poison proteins are selected from the group consisting of the following coupled proteins: CcdA/CcdB protein, Kis/Kid protein, Phd/Doc protein, RelB/relE protein, PasB/PasA protein, PasC/PasA protein and mazE/mazF protein.