In genetics, Flp-FRT recombination is a site-directed recombination technology,
increasingly used to manipulate an organism's DNA under controlled
conditions in vivo. It is analogous to Cre-lox recombination but involves the
recombination of sequences between short flippase recognition target sites by the
recombinase(Flp)derived from the 2µm plasmid of baker's yeast Saccharomyces
cerevisiae. The 34bp minimal FRT site sequence has
the sequence 5'GAAGTTCCTATTCtctagaaaGtATAGGAACTTC3'
for which flippase binds to both 13-bp 5'-GAAGTTCCTATTC-3' arms flanking the 8
bp spacer, i.e. the site-specific recombination in reverse orientation.
FRT-mediated cleavage occurs just ahead from the asymmetric 8bp core region on
the top strand and behind this sequence on the bottom strand. Several variant
FRT sites exist, but recombination can usually occur only between two identical
FRTs but generally not among non-identical FRTs.
Many available constructs include an additional arm sequences one base pair
away from the upstream element and in the same orientation:
TTCcGAAGTTCCTATTCtctagaaaGtATAGGAACTTC3' This segment is dispensable for excision
but essential for integration, including Recombinase-mediated cassette exchange.
Because the recombination activity can be targeted to a selected organ, or a
low level of recombination activity can be used to consistently alter the DNA of
only a subset of cells, Flp-FRT can be used to construct genetic mosaics in
multicellular organisms. Using this technology, the loss or alteration of a
gene can be studied in a given target organ of interest, even in cases where
experimental animals would not survive the loss of this gene in other
organs("spatial control"). The effect of altering a gene can also be studied over
time, by using an inducible promoter to trigger the recombination activity late
in development - this prevents the alteration from affecting overall
development of an organ, and allows single cells lacking the gene to be
compared to normal neighboring cells in the same environment.
See also Site-specific recombinase technology
Recombinase-mediated cassette exchange Cre recombinase
Cre-Lox recombination Genetic recombination
Homologous recombination References
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^ Turan, S.; Kuehle, J.; Schambach, A.; Baum, C.; Bode, J.. "Multiplexing RMCE:
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^ Turan, S., Bode, J.. "Site-specific recombinases: from tag-and-target- to
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