Shotgun phage display cloning

Shotgun phage display cloning is a useful tool for studying interactions between bacterial and host proteins. Libraries are constructed by cloning randomly fragmented prokaryotic DNA into phage mid-vectors. Theoretically, these libraries will consist of phages that together display all proteins encoded by the bacterial genome. Selecting a gene III-based library, made from Staphylococcus aureus DNA, against IgG and fibronectin resulted in 20-40% positive clones after two pannings. Increasing the number of fusion proteins per phage particle by using gene VIII-based display, increased the frequency of correct clones to 75-100%.