Bacterial Transformation (Helped by Michelle Tan)

During the process of transformation, bacteria are "transformed" when they take up DNA from a different strain. As demonstrated in the slide show, the bacteria were transformed into virulence when taking DNA from a virulent strain. This was accomplished through a process known as heat shock since natural transformation is rare occurrence. Lowering the temperature congeals the lipid membrane and stabilizes the negatively charged phosphates found on the lipids and in the DNA plasmid. The temperature imbalance created by the process of heat shock creates an "ionic shield" that allows the plasmid DNA to pass through the adhesion zone in the plasma membrane. In other words, this technique induces the bacteria to take in plasmid DNA and transform by integrating this DNA into their own. The resulting transformed bacteria contained both tetracyline and kanamycin genes (both are antibiotics) and could thrive in the presence of antibiotics.