Cloning the whole 3.5-megabase (Mb) genome of the photosynthetic bacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 into the 4.2-Mb genome of the mesophilic bacterium Bacillus subtilis 168 resulted in a 7.7-Mb composite genome. We succeeded in such unprecedented largesize cloning by progressively assembling and editing contiguous DNA regions that cover the entire Synechocystis genome. The strain containing the two sets of genome grew only in the B. subtilis culture medium where all of the cloning procedures were carried out. The high structural stability of the cloned Synechocystis genome was closely associated with the symmetry of the bacterial genome structure of the DNA replication origin (oriC) and its termination (terC) and the exclusivity of Synechocystis ribosomal RNA operon genes (rrnA and rrnB). Given the significant diversity in genome structure observed upon horizontal DNA transfer in nature, our stable laboratory-generated composite genome raised fundamental questions concerning two complete genomes in one cell. Our megasize DNA cloning method, designated megacloning, may be generally applicable to other genomes or genome loci of free-living organisms.bacterial genomes ͉ DNA assembly ͉ genome symmetry

Direct cloning of a long continuous genome segment in a Bacillus subtilis genome vector was demonstrated for the first time. Two small DNA fragments had to be installed in the vector prior to cloning. The DNA between these two fragments was cloned via homologous recombination. The efficiency of cloning was estimated using the 3,573-kb genome of a cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Recombinants were selected using the internal selection system of the Bacillus genome vector or with the antibiotic resistance marker in the cyanobacterial genome. Designated genomic segments as large as 77-kb were cloned by means of a single procedure. Cloning efficiency is affected by the molecular weight of the donor DNA and the size of the DNA to be cloned. The method is suitable for direct target cloning of large-sized DNA.