Question

How are bacterial cells typically made competent to facilitate the uptake of recombinant DNA during transformation?

Options

• By treatment with calcium ions followed by heat shock

• By washing with heavy metals at sub-zero temperatures

• By exposure to boiling water and continuous agitation

• By incubating with cellulase and chitinase enzymes

Answer 1

To enable bacterial cells to take up foreign recombinant DNA, they are treated with divalent cations like calcium ions, followed by a brief heat shock to increase membrane permeability.