Direct Plasmid Transfer Between Bacterial Species and Electrocuring

A common limitation in any molecular biological study is the introduction of DNA, whether bacteriophage or plasmid, into a recipient strain. Electroporation has a number of advantages over other more traditional methods for the introduction of DNA into cells, the most significant being the amount of DNA required is reduced, and in some procedures, prepared plasmid DNA is completely unnecessary. Since electroporation utilizes a physical rather than biological mechanism of DNA transfer, the technique has the power to overcome many of the barriers that are normally found when using more traditional techniques. For example, electroporation can be utilized for the direct movement of nonconjugative plasmids across species barriers, making it a powerful tool in molecular biology.