PSI Material Repository

About the PSI-MR

PSI-MR Background

The PSI Material Repository (PSI-MR) was established in 2006 at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics with the mission of providing centralized storage, maintenance and distribution of plasmid clones produced by PSI researchers. The PSI-MR recently moved and is now located at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University.


For each clone, the PSI-MR collects detailed information including information about the vector, insert, and protein expression, which is curated by a PhD level scientist and is stored in the DNASU plasmid repository (http://dnasu.asu.edu).  Each plasmid is sequence verified upon receipt and stored in state-of-the-art automated freezer storage that is linked to DNASU.  Through DNASU, researchers can search for and request clones in the collection.  DNASU is also linked to the PSI-Nature Structural Genomics Knowledgebase (PSI SGKB), which facilitates cross-referencing of a particular plasmid to protein annotations and experimental data.


The second mission of the PSI-MR has been to simplify the Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) process, thus decreasing the time it takes for institutions to deposit or receive plasmids.  To achieve this goal, the PSI-MR pioneered two documents: the depositor’s agreement, which sets forth the terms with the depositor’s institution for the PSI-MR to distribute deposited plasmids, and the expedited process MTA, which institutions sign to allow their researchers to receive any plasmid from the PSI-MR without the burden of signing an MTA for each request.

DNASU Plasmid Repository

Our repository has more than just PSI plasmids! We have a collection of over 150,000 plasmids in over 439 organisms in 291 vector backbones. This collection includes:

  1. Breast Cancer 1000 (BC1000): A collection of clones containing 1000 human genes related to breast cancer  
  2. Yeast - All of the open reading frames (ORFs) of S. cerevisiae in the Gateway Entry vectors
  3. >5,500 S. cerevisiae  ORFs in two yeast expression vectors pBY011 and ZM552
  4. A collection of the 5,600 genes encoded by P. aeruginosa
  5. Complete genome collections for Bacillus anthracis, Francisella  tularensis, Vibrio cholorae and Yersinia pestis 
  6. A set of >500 human kinases both in the Creator Entry Vector and two mammalian retroviral vectors (pJP1520 and pJP1563)
  7. A set of 7,000 clones of human genes in the Gateway Entry vector

You can view an overview of these collection here or see the details of these collections here and also search for and request these plasmids through our website.

Interested in submitting your plasmids to the MR?

Here are some reasons why you should deposit your plasmids at our repository! If you are interested, please contact the MR's scientific liaison.