Bacterial Transformation

Biology Assay / Lab Protocols Complexity: high

Description

Heat-shock transformation: plasmid DNA is mixed with chemically competent E. coli, a brief 42 C heat shock drives uptake, cells recover and express the resistance marker, and selective plating yields transformed colonies, with a retry loop when no colonies appear.

Process Flowchart

graph TD N1["Competent E. coli"] N2["Plasmid DNA (marker)"] N3["Selective agar + antibiotic"] N4["Mix DNA + cells on ice"] N5["Heat shock 42C, 45s"] N6["Return to ice"] N7["Recover in SOC, 37C 1h"] N8["Plate on selective agar"] N9["Incubate 37C overnight"] N10{"Colonies on plate?"} N11["Transformed colonies"] N12["Check competency/DNA"] N1 --> N4 N2 --> N4 N4 --> N5 N5 --> N6 N6 --> N7 N7 --> N8 N3 --> N8 N8 --> N9 N9 --> N10 N10 -->|yes| N11 N10 -->|no| N12 N12 -->|retry| N4 style N1 fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff style N2 fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff style N3 fill:#ffd43b,color:#000 style N4 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N5 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N6 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N7 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N8 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N9 fill:#51cf66,color:#fff style N10 fill:#74c0fc,color:#fff style N11 fill:#b197fc,color:#fff style N12 fill:#ffd43b,color:#000

Node provenance

Each step below is grounded in a cited source (hover a citation for the full title).

StepRoleSource
Competent E. coliTriggers & InputsHanahan, D. 1983
Plasmid DNA (marker)Triggers & InputsCohen, S. N. et al. 1972
Selective agar + antibioticStructures & ObjectsCohen, S. N. et al. 1972
Mix DNA + cells on iceProcessing & OperationsFroger, A. et al. 2007
Heat shock 42C, 45sProcessing & OperationsHanahan, D. 1983
Return to iceProcessing & OperationsFroger, A. et al. 2007
Recover in SOC, 37C 1hProcessing & OperationsHanahan, D. 1983
Plate on selective agarProcessing & OperationsCohen, S. N. et al. 1972
Incubate 37C overnightProcessing & OperationsFroger, A. et al. 2007
Colonies on plate?Intermediates & StatesHanahan, D. 1983
Transformed coloniesProducts & OutputsCohen, S. N. et al. 1972
Check competency/DNAStructures & ObjectsHanahan, D. 1983

🎨 Color Scheme (5-Color System)

Red
Triggers & Inputs
Yellow
Structures & Objects
Green
Processing & Operations
Blue
Intermediates & States
Violet
Products & Outputs

Process Statistics

  • Nodes: 12
  • Edges: 12
  • Conditionals: 1
  • AND Gates: 2
  • OR Gates: 1
  • Total Gates: 3

Keywords

  • transformation
  • competent cells
  • heat shock
  • plasmid
  • selection

Sources & References

  • Nonchromosomal antibiotic resistance in bacteria: genetic transformation of Escherichia coli by R-factor DNA
    Cohen, S. N.; Chang, A. C.; Hsu, L. , PNAS (1972)
    DOI: 10.1073/pnas.69.8.2110
  • Studies on transformation of Escherichia coli with plasmids
    Hanahan, D. , Journal of Molecular Biology (1983)
    DOI: 10.1016/S0022-2836(83)80284-8
  • Transformation of plasmid DNA into E. coli using the heat shock method
    Froger, A.; Hall, J. E. , Journal of Visualized Experiments (2007)
    DOI: 10.3791/253