Importing sequences from Addgene into MacVector

The Addgene repository is a great place for obtaining expression vectors and other plasmids for your research. Fully annotated sequences are available for most plasmid sequences, although older plasmid deposits may be only partially annotated. All are very easy to import into MacVector.

All Addgene sequence deposits have a Genbank formatted sequence. This should contain the annotated sequence available for the plasmid entry. However, MacVector will also import SnapGene DNA files. So you can just download the SnapGene file and double click to open it in MacVector. MacVector will parse all annotation and present you with a full graphical map of your sequence. As long as the SnapGene file is correct, this should be identical to the plasmid map on the web page.

You can also copy the Genbank sequence from a browser and go to FILE | NEW FROM CLIPBOARD.. to automatically import.

Addgene file downloaded in Snapgene format and opened in Snapgene versus opened in MacVector. This screenshot shows the default graphics. However, you can easily customize the map to look exactly as you prefer.

Genbank is a fully open and universally supported sequence format and supports ALL biological annotation and features contained in a sequence. Genbank is the format used by the NCBI, EMBL and DDBJ. It’s updated yearly and ensures that any sequence is viewable by any researcher worldwide, regardless of the software they are using.

MacVector is fully committed to being open with sequence data and ensuring researchers can always exchange sequences without being locked into a proprietary format. We always fully support the import and export of Genbank sequences and we always update each new release of MacVector to be fully compatible with the Genbank format.

(August 2, 2017 edited with a few corrections from Addgene via Twitter! Thanks!).

( October 13, 2021  edited to show that MacVector will directly import SnapGene files)

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