E. Colo Transformation Lab Report

Transformation is the genetic alteration of a cell, resulting from the intake of exogenous genetic material through the surrounding cell membrane. The purpose of this lab was to determine transformation of bacteria by testing the effect of P Vib plasmid of E. coli MM294, and how the color of the E. coli bacteria changes. In this lab, two small test tubes were given calcium chloride, E. coli MM294, and one of the tubes also received the plasmid P Vib. The test tubes were then placed in ice, heat shocked, and then a small amount of the contents were extracted and placed into two petri dishes containing ampicillin (hinders growth of bacteria). After a couple of days, the petri dish without P Vib displayed no signs of colonization in the E. coli
Bacteria are able take in material though the cell membrane, resulting in a change in its phenotype. In transformation, the foreign DNA crosses through the permeable cell membrane with energy from various enzymes. In the E. coli bacteria cell, protein synthesis occurred, with these new genetic traits from the plasmid. In protein synthesis, there are three steps: transcription, RNA processing, and translation. In transcription, the enzyme RNA polymerase unzips doubled stranded DNA, and then attaches the corresponding nucleotides to the DNA sequence. Then, RNA Processing occurs, where the new messenger RNA strand is edited by a spliceosome. The spliceosome cuts out specific sections of the strand, and then the strand is able to come back together with all of its important parts. Unnecessary parts of the strand are called introns, while the important parts are called exons. Lastly, in translation, the mRNA is decoded by a ribosome to produce an amino acid chain. This amino acid chain, or polypeptide, will then start to fold into a protein. Now, after transformation, the foreign DNA from the P Vib affected the proteins in the E. coli bacteria, so that they now contain the genes for ampicillin