MacVector displays amino acid translations in many different result windows. You can drill down to the residue level in the Map tab and see translations of CDS and other translatable features and see translations in the plain text views and the Quicktest Primer interface. The translations can be viewed as either single letter codes or…
We’ve previously looked at using Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste to quickly and simply create new constructs using Restriction Enzyme sites. Here’s an alternative approach, using the Digest and Ligate buttons and the Cloning Clipboard. The sequence window Map tab has two buttons called Digest and Ligate. These work in a very similar…
Align to reference is a perfect tool for mapping small sequencing projects against a reference sequence. It’s perfect for accurately and quickly:– Confirming the sequence of a cloned fragment– Sequencing across the ends of a cloned fragment to confirm the junction sequence– Screening clones from a site-specific mutagenesis experiment to identify successful mutations– Screening related…
While MacVector does have a built-in Entrez browser (Database | Internet Entrez Search) you can easily import GenBank formatted text into MacVector via a simple copy and paste approach. Many sequence-oriented web sites have the option of viewing sequences in GenBank format. This format always starts with the text LOCUS and finishes with two…
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 quickest and simplest way to create restriction enzyme generated constructs in MacVector is to use Edit | Copy and Edit | Paste. The strategy to use is identical to copying a paragraph from one Microsoft Word document to insert into a second document. i.e. Select the restriction enzymes flanking the source fragment in either…
You can create new constructs in MacVector by selecting two restriction enzyme sites, choosing Edit -> Copy, selecting a target restriction site in a different molecule and then choosing Edit -> Paste. It works great and fully understands compatible overhanging sticky ends preventing you from accidentally creating biologically impossible molecules. However, a far more flexible…
Every aspect of MacVector is designed to help you visualise and see information about your sequence and its annotation. Most views have tooltips that display information about restrictions sites, genes, CDS, SNPs, INDELS and much more.
Sequences, or regions of sequences, can be linked to external databases. For example an entire sequence entry or for when annotation tools are used to annotate proteins with domain or motif information (e.g. InterProScan). Very useful for when you want to view more detailed or updated information. Within the Genbank specification, which MacVector extensively uses,…
All analysis results for an individual sequence are collected into a single tabbed result window to reduce window clutter. However, there are times when it is very convenient to have results displayed in side-by-side windows. For example, if you run a dot plot you can zoom in to view sections of the comparison by drag-selecting…
