RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 uPIC–M: efficient and scalable preparation of clonal single mutant libraries for high-throughput protein biochemistry JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.08.04.455146 DO 10.1101/2021.08.04.455146 A1 Appel, Mason J. A1 Longwell, Scott A. A1 Morri, Maurizio A1 Neff, Norma A1 Herschlag, Daniel A1 Fordyce, Polly M. YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/04/2021.08.04.455146.abstract AB New high-throughput biochemistry techniques complement selection-based approaches and provide quantitative kinetic and thermodynamic data for thousands of protein variants in parallel. With these advances, library generation rather than data collection has become rate limiting. Unlike pooled selection approaches, high-throughput biochemistry requires mutant libraries in which individual sequences are rationally designed, efficiently recovered, sequence-validated, and separated from one another, but current strategies are unable to produce these libraries at the needed scale and specificity at reasonable cost. Here, we present a scalable, rapid, and inexpensive approach for creating User-designed Physically Isolated Clonal–Mutant (uPIC–M) libraries that utilizes recent advances in oligo synthesis, high-throughput sample preparation, and next-generation sequencing. To demonstrate uPIC–M, we created a scanning mutant library of SpAP, a 541 amino acid alkaline phosphatase, and recovered 94% of desired mutants in a single iteration. uPIC–M uses commonly available equipment and freely downloadable custom software and can produce a 5000 mutant library at 1/3 the cost and 1/5 the time of traditional techniques.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.