Pillar · microbiology
Bacterial culture and transformation
How non-pathogenic E. coli cloning strains are grown and how plasmid DNA is introduced, with the controls that make a colony meaningful.
8 October 2026 · 10 min read
Tag
transformation
Articles tagged transformation. Tags group methods across clusters so a technique can be found from more than one route.
All topicsBuffers and laboratory water26Cell culture26Chromatography26Cold chain and sample storage26Cytometry and microscopy26DNA sequencing26Gels and blotting26Gene expression26Genome editing26Immunoassays26Laboratory labware26Laboratory safety26Liquid handling26Microbiology26Molecular cloning26Nucleic acid purification26PCR and amplification26Protein biochemistry26Proteomics26Research sourcing and study design26
cold chainbiosafetycrisprspecificationsequencingproteomicsenquiryglossarytroubleshootingcloningmicrobiologybuffersfreezerspipettingcalibrationelisacell cultureglassware
6 articles
microbiology
Comparing chemical and electrocompetent cells
Chemical competence uses salt and a heat shock. Electrocompetence uses a low-salt cell and a pulse. The DNA cleanup has to match the method you chose.
8 October 2026 · 9 min read
microbiology
Competent cell handling on ice
How to thaw, hold and plate chemically competent E. coli so the cells stay cold and the colony still reports the DNA you added.
8 October 2026 · 11 min read
molecular cloning
Competent cells and transformation controls
How to choose chemical competence or electroporation, and which plates report efficiency, no-DNA background and a ligation that had no insert.
8 October 2026 · 8 min read
microbiology
Heat shock and electroporation concepts
How to separate a failed heat shock from a failed electroporation when a cloning-strain transformation returns an empty plate.
8 October 2026 · 9 min read
microbiology
Troubleshooting no transformants
How to read an empty antibiotic plate after transforming non-pathogenic E. coli, using a control plasmid to split cells from DNA.
8 October 2026 · 7 min read