THE EFFECTS OF pH ON THE TRANSFORMATION RATE OF AMPICILLIN RESISTANT ESCHERICHIA COLI
The objective of this experiment was to find out the transformation rate of Escherichia coli when an ampicillin resistant gene was added to the Escherichia coli, then grown in pH levels of six, seven, and eight. The experiment was performed by combining colonies of Escherichia coli with an ampicillin resistant plasmid in a calcium chloride and Luria broth. Ampicillin was combined with the agar. In order to change the pH of the agar solutions, baking soda was added to the agar to obtain a pH of eight and citric acid was added to the agar to obtain a pH of six. The Escherichia coli solution was then poured on the agar plates, and after one week, the numbers of colonies were counted. The results from this experiment showed that the pH level of seven had the largest transformation rate. The pH levels of six and eight each had a lower transformation rate than the pH level of seven, but their values were similar to each other. The results of this experiment paralleled the results of prior experiments. Escherichia coli will only grow in optimal conditions. In this experiment, the optimal condition was the pH of seven. Therefore, this is why the pH of seven had the highest transformation rate.
Research Done By:
Kirk Walmsley
L'Anse Creuse High School
Jennifer Walsh
South Lake High School
Warren Consolidated Schools