Competent Cells for Transformation

A complete collection of single-use and high-throughput electrocompetent and chemically competent E. coli

Choosing the ideal competent cells for your cloning applications and workflows is a critical component of success. Aspects to consider when selecting your competent E. coli strain include:

Transfection method – chemical versus electroporation
Transformation efficiency – bacterial strain and genotype
Downstream application – protein expression, library production, general cloning

Get started with the Competent Cell Sampler Pack

Chemically competent cells Electrocompetent cells

Competent cells selection guide

Use the Component cell selection guide to help determine which competent cells are best suited for your cloning experiments.

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Find the products you need to get started

Quickly find the right competent cell strain that fits your application and your budget. Find the right strain for your research. Each E. coli strain is specially engineered to keep you moving ahead.

Application	E. coli strain	Available as high efficiency ( >10 ⁹ cfu/μg)
Routine cloning / subcloning	DH5α Family*	> 1 x 10⁹
	DH10B Family*	> 1 x 10⁹
	TOP10 Family*	> 1 x 10⁹
	OmniMax 2 T1R*	> 5 x 10⁹
	Mach1 T1R*	> 1 x 10⁹
Protein expression	BL21 Family*	N/A
Cloning unstable DNA	Stbl2, Stbl3*, Stbl4	Stbl2: > 1 x 10⁹ Stbl4: > 5 x 10⁹
Library production	DH10B Family ⚡	> 1 x 10¹⁰
	Stbl4 ⚡	> 5 x 10⁹
	OmniMax 2 T1^R	> 5 x 10⁹
ssDNA propagation	DH12S ⚡	> 1 x 10¹⁰
Bacmid creation	DH10Bac	N/A
Cre-lox recombination	PIR1 / PIR2	PIR1: > 1 x 10¹⁰
Single Strand DNA Isolation	TOP10 F' / TOP10 F' ⚡	TOP10 F': > 1 x 10⁹ TOP10 F' (LB): > 5 x 10⁹
Single Strand DNA Isolation	INVαF'	N/A
Highest efficiency	MegaX DH10B T1R ⚡	> 3 x 10¹⁰
Plasmid prep of SupF-containing vectors	TOP10/P3	> 1 x 10⁹
Plasmid prep of SupF-containing vectors	MC1061/P3	N/A
Plasmid purification of dam or dcm methylation sensitive restriction enzymes	INV110	N/A
Use with Gateway vectors and plasmids with ccdB gene	ccd B Survival T1^R	> 1 x 10⁹
Certain E. coli* strains within the family are available in a high-throughput configuration. ⚡ = Electrocompetent cells.