pCORE, a set of open modular plasmids compatible with golden gate assembly

Modular DNA assembly based Golden Gate cloning (MoClo) is a widely used framework to assemble genetic constructs. A number of MoClo “destination vectors” have been developed, however, available options are still limited with regards to copy number and antibiotic resistance in bacteria, vector compactness, and industry researchers’ access to materials. Here, we assembled combinations of five resistance cassettes, four origins of replication and two colour markers to develop a collection of compact MoClo-compatible pCORE destination vectors. pCORE vectors support MoClo Level 1 and Level 2 assembly, and can serve as starting points for developing vectors for other hosts. We tested the performance of our vector collection in Escherichia coli, Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. pCORE vectors are available to academia and industry under the terms of OpenMTA licence.