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NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency)

Catalog # Concentration Size List Price Quantity Your Price
C2987H 20 x 0.05 ml $314.00
$282.60
C2987I 6 x 0.2 ml $241.00
$216.90
C2987P 1 96-well pl $794.00
$714.60
C2987R 1 384-well p $1,737.00
$1,563.30
C2987U 96 x 0.05 ml $1,181.00
$1,062.90
Catalog # Size List Price Your Price
C2987H 20 x 0.05 ml $314.00
$282.60
C2987I 6 x 0.2 ml $241.00
$216.90
C2987P 1 96-well pl $794.00
$714.60
C2987R 1 384-well p $1,737.00
$1,563.30
C2987U 96 x 0.05 ml $1,181.00
$1,062.90
Catalog #
Qty:
 
*On-line ordering is for Canadian customers only. Web pricing is applicable only to orders placed online at www.neb.ca

NEB 5-alpha Competent E. coli is a derivative of the popular DH5α. It is T1 phage resistant and endA deficient for high-quality plasmid preparations. 

  • High efficiency strain ideal for a wide variety of applications
  • Available in a wide variety of sizes, including single-use vials, 200 μl vials, 96- and 384- well plate and 12 x 8 tube strips
  • No dry ice surcharge on competent cell shipments
  • Outgrowth medium included
  • Free of animal products
Featured Videos
View Video Library
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    Tips for Successful Transformations with NEB® Competent Cells
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    How to Perform a Transformation with NEB® Competent Cells
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    The Mechanism of Transformation with Competent Cells
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    Overview of PCR Cloning
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    Traditional Cloning Workflow
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    NEBUILDER HIFI DNA ASSEMBLY® Removal of 3´ end Mismatches
  • Monarch_MiniprepProtocol_VideoThumb
    Fast transformation plating with glass beads

Chemically competent E. coli cells suitable for high efficiency transformation in a wide variety of applications. Available in 5 convenient formats:

  • Single-use 50 μl vials
  • 200 μl vials
  • 96-well plate
  • 384-well plate
  • 12 x 8-tube strips: packed in 12 x 8-Strip Microplate Cluster Tube (Costar™ Cluster Tube System)

 

For C2987H, C2987I, C2987P and C2987U, SOC Outgrowth Medium is provided.
For C2987R, Outgrowth Medium 1.5 is provided.

Highlights
  • DH5α™ derivative
  • Free of animal products
  • Efficient transformation of unmethylated DNA derived from PCR, cDNA and many other sources (hsdR)
  • Activity of nonspecific endonuclease I (endA1) eliminated for highest quality plasmid preparations
  • Resistance to phage T1 (fhuA2)
  • Suitable for blue/white screening by α-complementation of the β-galactosidase gene
  • Reduced recombination of cloned DNA (recA1)
  • K12 Strain
Reagents Supplied

The following reagents are supplied with this product:

NEB # Component Name Component # Stored at (°C) Amount Concentration
  pUC19 Vector N3041AVIAL -20 1 x 0.025 ml 50 pg/µl
  SOC Outgrowth Medium B9020SVIAL 4 1 x 25 ml
  NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency) C2987HVIAL -80 20 x 0.05 ml
  pUC19 Vector N3041AVIAL -20 1 x 0.025 ml 50 pg/µl
  SOC Outgrowth Medium B9020SVIAL 4 1 x 25 ml
  NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency) C2987IVIAL -80 6 x 0.2 ml
  pUC19 Vector N3041AVIAL -20 1 x 0.025 ml 50 pg/µl
  SOC Outgrowth Medium B9020SVIAL 4 1 x 25 ml
  NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency) C2987PVIAL -80 1 x20 μl/well
  NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency) C2987RVIAL -80 1 x10 μl/well
  Outgrowth Medium 1.5 B9040AVIAL 4 1 x 10 ml
  pUC19 Vector N3041AVIAL -20 1 x 0.025 ml 50 pg/µl
  SOC Outgrowth Medium B9020SVIAL 4 2 x 25 ml
  NEB® 5-alpha Competent E. coli (High Efficiency) C2987UVIAL -80 1 x 12 8-well strip
  pUC19 Vector N3041AVIAL -20 1 x 0.025 ml 50 pg/µl
Features
  • Versatile cloning strain
  • DH5α™ derivative
Application Features

DNA effects on transformation efficiency and colony output DNA Effects on Transformation Efficiency and Colony Output:
The optimal amount of DNA to use in a transformation reaction is lower than commonly recognized. Using clean, supercoiled pUC19, the efficiency of transformation is highest in the 100 pg-1 ng range. However, the total colonies which can be obtained from a single transformation reaction increase up to about 100 ng.
Effect of heat shock time on NEB 5-alpha competent E.coli transformation efficiency Effect of heat shock time on NEB 5-alpha competent E.coli transformation efficiency:
50 μl of competent cells were transformed with 100 pg of pUC19 control DNA following the provided High Efficiency Transformation Protocol except heat shock time varied from 0 to 80 seconds.
Effect of DNA incubation time on NEB 5-alpha competent E.coli transformation efficiency Effect of DNA incubation time on NEB 5-alpha competent E.coli transformation efficiency:
50 μl of competent cells were transformed with 100 pg of pUC19 control DNA following the provided High Efficiency Transformation Protocol except DNA incubation time varied from 0 to 40 minutes.
Effect of outgrowth medium on transformation efficiency Effect of outgrowth medium on transformation efficiency:
50 μl of NEB 5-alpha competent E.coli was transformed with 100 pg of pUC19control DNA following the provided High Efficiency Transformation Protocol with the exception of varying the outgrowth medium. NEB SOC outgrowth medium delivers the highest transformation efficiency.
Benefit from the high transformation efficiencies of NEB 5-alpha Benefit from the high transformation efficiencies of NEB 5-alpha:
The transformation efficiencies of NEB 5-alpha and DH5α were compared using each manufacturers' recommended protocols. Values shown are the average of triplicate experiments.

Properties & Usage

Antibiotic for Plasmid Selection

Antibiotics for Plasmid Selection Working Concentration
Ampicillin 100 µg/ml
Carbenicillin 100 µg/ml
Chloramphenicol 33 µg/ml
Kanamycin 30 µg/ml
Streptomycin 25 µg/ml
Tetracycline 15 µg/ml

Shipping Notes

  • Ships on dry ice

Antibiotic Resistance

  • none


Companion Products
Materials Sold Separately
Notes
  • For C2987H, C2987I, C2987P and C2987U, SOC Outgrowth Medium is provided.
    For C2987R, Outgrowth Medium 1.5 is provided.

  • CAUTION: This product contains DMSO, a hazardous material. Review the MSDS before handling.

  • STORAGE AND HANDLING:
    Competent cells should be stored at -80°C. Storage at -20°C will result in a significant decrease in transformation efficiency. Cells lose efficiency whenever they are warmed above -80°C, even if they do not thaw.

    SOC medium can be stored at either 4°C or Room Temperature depending on how fast it will be used. Storing at Room Temperature is convenient and adequate for short term usage (weeks to a couple of months). For long term storage, we recommend storing at 4°C. Please note that Outgrowth Medium 1.5 supplied with C2987R (1 x 384 well plate format) must only be stored at Room Temperature or crystals will form.
FAQs
Citations
Additional Citations
  • Kostylev M., Otwell A.E., Richardson R., Suzuki Y. (2015) Cloning Should Be Simple: Escherichia coli DH5α-Mediated Assembly of Multiple DNA Fragments with Short End Homologies PLoS One 10, e0137466.PubMedID: PMC4562628, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137466
  • Lee S.B., Park S.K., Kim Y.S. (2015) Production of bioactive chicken (Gallus gallus) follistatin-type proteins in E. coli Sci Rep 5, 11603.PubMedID: 26302688, DOI: 10.1038/srep11603
  • Mascher G, Derman Y, Kirk DG, Palonen E, Lindström M, Korkeala H (2014) The CLO3403/CLO3404 Two-Component System of Clostridium botulinum E1 Beluga Is Important for Cold Shock Response and Growth at Low Temperatures Appl Environ Microbiol 80(1), 399-407.PubMedID: 24185852, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.03204-13
Quality Control Assay
Quality Control tests are performed on each new lot of NEB product to meet the specifications designated for it. Specifications and individual lot data from the tests that are performed for this particular product can be found and downloaded on the Product Specification Sheet, Certificate of Analysis, data card or product manual. Further information regarding NEB product quality can be found here.
Specifications
The Specification sheet is a document that includes the storage temperature, shelf life and the specifications designated for the product. The following file naming structure is used to name these document files: [Product Number]_[Size]_[Version]
Certificate of Analysis
The Certificate of Analysis (COA) is a signed document that includes the storage temperature, expiration date and quality controls for an individual lot. The following file naming structure is used to name these document files: [Product Number]_[Size]_[Version]_[Lot Number]
Safety Data Sheets
Legal And Disclaimer

Products and content are covered by one or more patents, trademarks and/or copyrights owned or controlled by New England Biolabs, Inc (NEB). The use of trademark symbols does not necessarily indicate that the name is trademarked in the country where it is being read; it indicates where the content was originally developed. The use of this product may require the buyer to obtain additional third-party intellectual property rights for certain applications. For more information, please email busdev@neb.com.

This product is intended for research purposes only. This product is not intended to be used for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes in humans or animals.

New England Biolabs (NEB) is committed to practicing ethical science – we believe it is our job as researchers to ask the important questions that when answered will help preserve our quality of life and the world that we live in. However, this research should always be done in safe and ethical manner. Learn more.

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