Fatty Acid fabF Mutants of Escherichia coli Show Limitation on Transformation Frequency

Escherichia coli knockouts of the fabF gene consequently lack the encoded protein, β – ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) synthase II, which plays a part in fatty acid biosynthesis and by extension, in membrane fluidity. Since this enzyme is highly active at lower temperatures, we predicted that fabF mutants would differ from the wild-type parental strain in their membrane permeability to DNA during the cold-shock step in calcium chloride-induced transformation. Parental and mutant strains were made competent using the cold-shock transformation method, and replicates of the subsequent transformation assays with the plasmid pUC19 suggested that the fabF knockout had a slight negative effect on transformation frequency. It is a good candidate for further study in order to elucidate the mechanism of transformation.