One Shot™ TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli

The only difference between TOP10 and TOP10F' cells is that the latter contain the F' episome that carries the tetracycline resistance gene and allows isolation of single-stranded DNA from vectors that have an f1 origin of replication. The F' episome also carries the lacIq repressor for inducible expression from trc, tac, and lac promoters using IPTG. TOP10F' cells require IPTG induction for blue/white screening.

If the insert is potentially toxic to the host cells, here are some suggestions that you can try:

- After transforming TOP10 or DH5? cells, incubate at 25-30°C instead of 37°C. This will slow down the growth and will increase the chances of cloning a potentially toxic insert.
- Try using TOP10F' cells for the transformation, but do not add IPTG to the plates. These cells carry the lacIq repressor that represses expression from the lac promoter and so allows cloning of toxic genes. Keep in mind that in the absence of IPTG, blue-white screening cannot be performed.
- Try using Stbl2 cells for the transformation.

Our ViraPower lentiviral expression system is a 3rd generation system with regard to safety features. Our lentiviral expression vectors are derived from wild type HIV, but nearly all the wild type viral proteins (e.g., Vpr, Vpu, Vif, Nef, Tat) have been removed and the HIV envelope is not used. VSV-G (vesicular stomatitis virus G) envelope protein is used instead. Our ViraPower lentiviral expression system can be used with a 2nd generation lentiviral packaging mix. However, our lentiviral packaging mix would not be compatible with a 2nd generation lentiviral expression vector.

There are other strains available that may function similarly to Stbl2 cells in stabilizing inserts or vectors with repeated DNA sequences. However, one advantage of Stbl2 cells over many similar strains is that they are sensitive to Kanamycin, so you can use Stbl2 to propagate plasmids containing a Kanamycin resistance marker. 

For best results, DNA used in electroporation must have a very low ionic strength and a high resistance. A high-salt DNA sample may be purified by either ethanol precipitation or dialysis.

The following suggested protocols are for ligation reactions of 20ul. The volumes may be adjusted to suit the amount being prepared.

Purifying DNA by Precipitation: Add 5 to 10 ug of tRNA to a 20ul ligation reaction. Adjust the solution to 2.5 M in ammonium acetate using a 7.5 M ammonium acetate stock solution. Mix well. Add two volumes of 100 % ethanol. Centrifuge at 12,000 x g for 15 min at 4C. Remove the supernatant with a micropipet. Wash the pellet with 60ul of 70% ethanol. Centrifuge at 12,000 x g for 15 min at room temperature. Remove the supernatant with a micropipet. Air dry the pellet. Resuspend the DNA in 0.5X TE buffer [5 mM Tris-HCl, 0.5 mM EDTA (pH 7.5)] to a concentration of 10 ng/ul of DNA. Use 1 ul per transformation of 20 ul of cell suspension.

Purifying DNA by Microdialysis: Float a Millipore filter, type VS 0.025 um, on a pool of 0.5X TE buffer (or 10% glycerol) in a small plastic container. Place 20ul of the DNA solution as a drop on top of the filter. Incubate at room temperature for several hours. Withdraw the DNA drop from the filter and place it in a polypropylene microcentrifuge tube. Use 1ul of this DNA for each electrotransformation reaction.