Bacterial Transformation

The process of transformation occurs when genetic information is exchanged from one organism to another. Bacteria undergo transformation with the aid of plasmids, which are circular portions of DNA. These plasmids can be inserted into the bacteria, and once the bacteria receives the newly gained genes, it can either display the gene or prevent the gene from showing.

When certain genes are inserted into bacterial cells, the bacteria adapt the gene to the environmental conditions they are exposed to. The gene for antibiotic resistance can also be transferred into bacterial cells. The gene for Ampicillin resistance is one type of antibiotic resistance gene that can be inserted.

The purpose of conducting this experiment is to observe the transformation that takes place as pGFP plasmids are inserted into E. Coli bacterial cells, and then placed under carrying conditions. The pGFP plasmids carry two genes, one of which codes for Ampicillin resistance, and the other coding to be a green fluorescent protein. When the pGFP plasmids are inserted into the bacteria, if the transformation is successful, the bacteria will emit the light from the green fluorescent protein.

After the cultures had been incubated, the following results had been shown. In the first petri dish, which had been treated with lb (food) as well as the pGFP plasmid, there had been scattered stretches of bacteria with no colonies that had formed. In the second petri dish, which had been treated with lb (food), the gene for ampicillin resistance and pGFP , there had been a total of 106 colonies of bacteria scattered throughout the culture. In the third petri dish, which had been treated with only lb (food), the bacteria had been scattered and stretched throughout the