Vector Type |
Insert Size |
Source |
Applications |
Plasmid |
Small (<15kb) |
Bacteria |
Gene cloning, protein expression, molecular biology studies |
Phage |
Small to Medium (5 – 20kb) |
Bacteriophage |
Gene library construction, DNA sequencing |
Cosmid |
Medium (35 – 45kb) |
Hybrid (plasmid & phage) |
Genomic library construction, large DNA fragment cloning |
BAC |
Large (75 – 300kb) |
Bacteria |
Genomic library construction, genome sequencing |
YAC |
Very Large (100
– 1000kb/1MB) |
Yeast |
Genomic library construction, mapping entire genomes |
MAC |
Extremely Large (100kb
to >1MB) |
Mammalian cells |
Studying complex mammalian genomes |