pGLO Lab Conclusions

pGLO Observations , Data Recording & Analysis

1.

Obtain your team plates.  Observe your set of  “+pGLO” plates under room light and with UV light.  Record numbers of colonies and color of colonies. Fill in the table below. Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB >1,000 Yellow Clear - pGLO LB/amp N/A N/A N/A + pGLO LB/amp ~200 Yellow Clear + pGLO LB/amp/ara ~200 Yellow Bright green

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	They have ampicillin resistance and pGLO glowing.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	I estimate that only about 5 uL of the original bacteria survived, as there were very few bacteria that had picked up the pGLO trait.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	The arabinose on the plates were supposed to be used to activate the pGLO gene, just how the lactose activated the lactase gene in the lac operon.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	GFP is currently used as a reporter of expression, which is used to determine the effectiveness of the regulatory gene, by replacing the gene to be regulated by. GFP can be used as colored tags to visualize where the gene is being expressed. GFP-based fluorescent sensors can be used to detect many intracellular conditions, such as ion concentration or pH.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering.

An another application of GFP in genetic engineering is for usability. It is useful for dyeing in the first place, as it produces its own fluorescent chromophore, responsible for color, so you don't need to worry about the possibility that it might manipulate any other chromophores. It can also be used to visualize things. For example, it can be used to visualize the survival of genetically modified bacteria in different environments, because of the fluorescent characteristics that it has.