Zeocin is a trade name for a formulation of phleomycin D1, a glycopeptide antibiotic and one of the phleomycins from ''Streptomyces verticillus'' belonging to the bleomycin family of antibiotics. It is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that is effective against most

aerobic organisms Aerobic means "requiring air," in which "air" usually means oxygen. Aerobic may also refer to * Aerobic exercise, prolonged exercise of moderate intensity * Aerobics, a form of aerobic exercise * Aerobic respiration, the aerobic process of cell ...

including bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeast, plant, and animal cells. It causes cell death by intercalating into DNA and inducing double stranded breaks of the DNA.

Properties

Zeocin is blue in colour due to the presence of copper ion Cu²⁺. This copper-chelated form is inactive. When Zeocin enters a cell, the Cu²⁺ is reduced to Cu⁺ and then removed. Subsequently, Zeocin becomes activated and can then bind and cleave DNA. However, the mechanism of action is not yet fully understood.

Usage

Zeocin and other related chemicals in the bleomycin family of compounds are primarily used in molecular biology as an antibiotic, especially for the selection of eukaryotic cell lines when used in conjunction with vectors containing a selectable marker for Zeocin resistance. Zeocin is considerably cheaper than phleomycin, works better in minimal media, and is therefore often used preferentially in studies. Resistance to Zeocin is conferred by the product of the Sh ''ble'' gene first isolated from ''Streptoalloteichus hindustanus''. The Sh ''ble'' gene product binds the antibiotic in a one-to-one ratio so it can no longer cause cleavage of DNA. This resistance gene is used as a selectable marker in some

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical or virtually identical DNA, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction. In the field of biotechnology, c ...

and expression vectors where Zeocin is used as the antibiotic for selection.

Plasmids with Zeocin Resistance

pFUSE-Fc plasmid pUNO1-Sh ble pSELECT-zeo pSELECT-GFPzeo

References

External links

*{{cite web , url=https://www.invivogen.com/zeocin , title= Zeocin , publisher= InvivoGen , access-date= December 2, 2022 Glycopeptide antibiotics Eukaryotic selection compounds