Zeocin™ is highly effective in a variety of organisms, including mammalian and insect cell lines, as well as in yeast, bacteria, and plants.  As a member of the bleomycin family, Zeocin™ causes cell death by intercalating into and cleaving DNA. 

Resistance to Zeocin™ is conferred by the Sh ble gene product, which binds the antibiotic and prevents it from binding DNA.  This selection agent is effective in multiple cell types, so eukaryotic expression vectors only need to carry one drug selection marker.  This reduces the overall size of the vector and makes subcloning and transfection easier and more efficient.

Formula: C 55H 83N 19O 21S 2Cu
FW: 1137.41 g/mole

Table 1 - Selection agents and resistant vectors

Cell types
Conc. (μg/ml)*
Invitrogen Vectors carrying resistance marker
HeLa
~150
pcDNA4 vectors (Constitutive mammalian expression)
NIH3T3
~400
T-REx™ System, pcDNA4/TO vectors (Inducible mammalian expression)
CHO
~250
pSecTag2 vector (Secreted mammalian expression)
COS-1
~400
ZeoCassette™ vectors (Constructing Zeocin™-resistant vectors)
293 HEK
200-400
InsectSelect™ System, pIZ/V5-His vectors (Stable expression in insect cells)
Jurkat T-Cell
~200
pPICZ and pPICZ alpha vectors (Inducible expression in Pichia pastoris)
Sf9 insect
~250
pGAPZ and pGAPZ alpha vectors (Inducible expression in Pichia pastoris)
S2 Drosophila
~75

Pichia pastoris
~100

S. cerevisiae
200-300


* The optimal concentration for selection of your cell line should be determined using kill curves.