Transforming Frozen Competent E. coli - MetabolicEngineeringGroupCBMA/MetabolicEngineeringGroupCBMA.github.io GitHub Wiki
Transforming Frozen Calcium Competent or SEM E. coli cells
Remove one tube of competent cells from -80°C freezer for each transformation. Let cells defrost on ice (~5-15 min).
Add the DNA (up to 10 µL for each 200 µL cells), flick the tube a few times to mix. Do NOT vortex the cells at this point.
Incubate for 30 min on ice.
Heat shock in water bath at 42°C during EXACTLY 45s.
Cool the tube for 2 min in a water/ice slurry for fast heat transfer.
Add pre-warmed liquid LB medium to one mL total volume, or use SOC or LB with 20 mM glucose (LB with 3.6 g/l glucose) and let cells recover at 37°C for 1 h.
Put the tubes sideways in a shaking incubator if possible. Mixing is better in a 2 mL tube than in a 1.5 mL.
Centrifuge >12000g during 30 s or at lower speed (~5000 rpm for 2-3 min).
Slower speed makes it easier to resuspend the cells.
Discard ~900 µL of the supernatant, do that 200-300 µL remains
Resuspend pellet with the remaining liquid.
Add the antibiotic if necessary, 1µL of a 1000x solution to for each ml of plate medium.
plate by adding 5-10 sterile glass beads and swirl the plate to spread the liquid.