The Standard European Vector Architecture (SEVA) plasmid toolkit.

The Standard European Vector Architecture (SEVA) toolkit is a simple and powerful resource for constructing optimal plasmid vectors based on a backbone and three interchangeable modules flanked by uncommon restriction sites. Functional modules encode several origins of replication, diverse antibiotic selection markers, and a variety of cargoes with different applications. The backbone and DNA modules have been minimized and edited for flaws in their sequence and/or functionality. A protocol for the utilization of the SEVA platform to construct transcriptional and translational fusions between a promoter under study (the arsenic-responsive Pars of Pseudomonas putida KT2440) and the reporter lacZ gene is described. The resulting plasmid collection was instrumental to measure and compare the β-galactosidase activity that report gene expression (i.e., transcription and translation) in different genetic backgrounds.