6.08 Bacterial Transformation Lab Report -Graded A+

Bacterial Transformation Lab Report Title: Bacterial transformation lab Objective(s): The length of the time for which the heat shock is given greatly affects the process of transformation or the uptake of the plasmid by the bacterial cell. Hypothesis: As the length of the time of the heat shock increases there are greater chances of the process of transformation or the uptake of the plasmid by the bacterial cell. As the time period of heat shock increases, the bacterial cell membrane develops pores leading to the entry of the plasmid inside the bacterial cell. Thus the transformation efficiency will increase with an increase in the time period of the heat shock treatment. However, if the heat shock temperature treatment is increased for longer periods of time then it can lead to the rupturing of the bacterial cell membrane at very high temperatures for prolonged periods of time. Materials: Bacterial Transformation Virtual Lab Summary of Steps 1. Fill all three tubes 2. Place tubes into an ice bath 3. Inoculate each tube 4. Put a colony in each tube 5. Swirl the rube 6. Record data Genetic Transformation Reflections Questions 1) What is the function of plasmids in bacteria? A plasmid is a small, circular, double-stranded DNA molecule that is distinct from a cell's chromosomal DNA. Plasmids naturally exist in bacterial cells, and they also occur in some eukaryotes. Often, the genes carried in plasmids provide bacteria with genetic advantages, such as antibiotic resistance. Plasmids have a wide range of lengths, from roughly one thousand DNA base pairs to hundreds of thousands of base pairs. When a bacterium divides, all of the plasmids contained within the cell are copied such that each daughter cell receives a copy of each plasmid. Bacteria can also transfer plasmids to one another through a process called conjugation. 2) In previous investig