Competent Cells for Routine Cloning and Subcloning

Competent cells for everyday bacterial transformation have broad utility for propagating vectors, subcloning DNA fragments, and other routine molecular biology procedures. To accommodate various workflows, the most popular competent cells for subcloning come in several formats including standard, One Shot, and MultiShot packaging.

Selection guide: E. coli strains for cloning and subcloning

These Invitrogen chemically competent cells:

Allow blue/white screening
Are available in multiple volumes/formats to suit your workflow and budget

Product
Product	Subcloning Efficiency DH5α Chemically Competent Cells	MAX Efficiency DH5α T1R Competent Cells	TOP10 Chemically Competent Cells	OmniMAX T1R Chemically Competent Cells	Mach1 T1R Chemically Competent Cells
Transformation efficiency	>1 x 10⁶ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁹ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁹ cfu/µg	>5 x 10⁹ cfu/µg (highest)	>1 x 10⁹cfu/µg
Recommended for	Routine subcloning (economical choice)	High efficiency cloning, library preparation	High efficiency cloning, for high copy number plasmids	Low starting DNA (highest efficiency for chemical transformation)	Rapid growth and fast turnaround time
*T1, T5, and φ80 phage resistance (tonA* (fhuA))**	–		–
*Transform PCR products, unmethylated DNA (hsdR)*
*Transform methylated DNA (mcrA)*	–	–			–
Generate ssDNA (Contains F´ episome)	–	–	–		–
Available format(s)	4 x 500 µL/tube See all Invitrogen DH5α cells	21 x 50 µL/tube 5 x 200 µL/tube See all Invitrogen DH5α T1R cells	21 x 50 µL/tube See all One Shot TOP10 kits See all Invitrogen TOP10 cells	21 x 50 µL/tube 1 x 96-well plate with 20 µl/well	21 x 50 µL/tube See all Invitrogen Mach1 cells

Competent cells: Featured products

In addition to competent cells, we offer a broad suite of products for the cloning workflow.

Microbial
media

Magnified image of purple, rod-shaped bacteria

Explore types of bacterial growth media to use for cloning, plasmid DNA preparation, and protein expression.

Browse media

Electroporation
cuvettes

Learn more about universal-fit electroporation cuvettes for use with competent cells.

View electroporation cuvettes

TOPO PCR
cloning kits

Photo of TOPO PCR cloning kit product box and content

Learn more about one-step PCR cloning that combines traditional restriction and ligation cloning.

View TOPO kits

Gibson Assembly
cloning kits

Gibson Assembly cloning kits provide highly efficient, seamless cloning, enabling the assembly of multiple DNA fragments of varying lengths into any vector.

Explore Gibson Assembly cloning

Resources

Have any questions on competent cells or transformation? Click on the resources listed below to access overviews, videos, genotype guides, and educational resources.