Question

Briefly explain how an antibiotic-resistance gene and the lacz gene can be used to determine which cells contain a particular plasmid

Answer 1

Bacteria that have taken up the plasmid with antibiotic resistance gene will grow in a medium laced with the particular antibiotic of interest. More so, the bacteria that take up plasmid with the lac Z gene, when grown in a medium of lactose only, will propagate. These experiments are used with selective media that only allows the bacteria with a particular characteristic to grow.