Description
Easy to perform; requires some background knowledge.
Bacteria that produce light are very common in the ocean. The group of genes involved in the production of light (also known as the lux genes) has been removed from V. fischeri and placed in a plasmid, pVIB. Bacterial transformation is used to transfer the pVIB plasmid into E. coli .
After E. coli takes up the plasmid, it glows in the dark. The transformed colonies are also ampicillin resistant. Kit includes perishable materials, but the kit and the perishable components will ship separately and may arrive on different days. Note: Bacteria transformed with the pVIB plasmid must be grown at 30° C or less for the glowing to be seen.