Construction of transgenic mice producing CAT to milk by co-injection of two overlapping fragments of bovine αs1-casein-CAT gene

Two αs1-casein/chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene constructs overlapping by 3.0kb were constructed and co-injected into murine zygotes. In 9 of 10 lines of transgenic mice obtained, based on analysis of structure and expression of the transgene, accurate extrachromosomal homologous recombination (ECR) between the two overlapping DNA fragments was found. Different levels of CAT activity were detected in milk from these lines. The highest CAT activity was about 25-50μg/mL milk. In some mice. CAT activity was found in salvia gland, thymus and spleen extracts. The high frequency and accuracy of ECR reported here will be applicable in the experimental manipulation for generation of relatively large transgene.