Question

A microbiologist would like to use a noncompetent genus of streptococcal bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis, as a cloning host to express genes from Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is naturally competent. Is this possible?

1) Yes; electroporation or chemical transformation can be used to make Enterococcus competent, and then genes from Streptococcus can be introduced via a cloning vector.
2) Yes; electroporation or chemical transformation can be used to make non-competent Streptococcus mutants, from which genes can be inserted into a cloning vector and introduced into Enterococcus.
3) No; competence factor is an essential protein that enables the uptake of foreign DNA, therefore a cloning host such as Enterococcus that lacks competence factor protein is unable to be transformed by electroporation or chemical transformation.
4) Yes; since the cloning host and the DNA to be introduced are both from bacteria that are streptococci, natural competence in this case is not necessary as long as the appropriate vector is used.

Answer 1

Yes, using electroporation or chemical transformation, a noncompetent bacterium like Enterococcus faecalis can be made competent to take up and express genes from Streptococcus pneumoniae using a cloning vector.

Step-by-step explanation:

Yes, it is possible to use Enterococcus faecalis as a cloning host to express genes from Streptococcus pneumoniae, despite it not being naturally competent. Methods such as electroporation or chemical transformation can be employed to artificially induce competence in Enterococcus faecalis.

In electroporation, an electric field creates temporary pores in the bacterial membrane, allowing DNA to enter the cell. During chemical transformation, treatments such as CaCl2 are used to increase cell membrane permeability. After becoming competent, Enterococcus faecalis can take up recombinant DNA harbored within a cloning vector that includes genes from Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Thus, a noncompetent bacterium can be made competent through laboratory techniques that alter the cell membrane to allow the uptake of foreign DNA. Once the recombinant plasmid is inside the host bateria, it can be expressed, enabling the production of the desired proteins from Streptococcus pneumoniae. These techniques are powerful tools in molecular biology and are commonly used to clone and express genes in microbes for research and industrial applications.