Antibiotic for selecting transfected prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Hygromycin B, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, inhibits the growth of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Specifically, it inhibits protein synthesis by interfering with translocation of the 70S ribosome subunit and inducing misreading of the mRNA template. Hygromycin B has been used to select transfectants in a wide variety of cells including bacteria, protozoans, yeast, fungi, plants, and mammalian cells. Resistance to Hygromycin B is conferred by a gene coding for a phosphotransferase that phosphorylates Hygromycin B, thereby inactivating it. Hygromycin B is an effective agent for the selection and maintenance of bacterial and eukaryotic cells stably transfected with vectors containing E. coli Hygromycin B resistance gene (hyg or hph). This antibiotic is suitable for use in cell culture for the selection of hygromycin-resistant clones when using ClonaCell™-TCS medium, and for the selection of any hygromycin-resistant transfected cell type.