Direct Sequencing of Inserts Cloned into Lambda Vectors

Bacteriophage lambda is widely used as a vector for both genomic and cDNA cloning. However, although lambda is highly efficient for cloning, its use for direct sequencing is limited because of a lack of reliable sequencing methods. Although various methods for sequencing directly in lambda have been described (1 ,2 ), most researchers experience difficulties when sequencing in lambda, obtaining variable results and blank or extremely faint autoradiograms yielding unreliable sequences.