Bacterial transformation is a process of horizontal gene transfer by which some bacteria take up foreign genetic material (naked DNA) from the environment. It was first reported in Streptococcus pneumoniae by Griffith in 1928. DNA as the transforming principle was demonstrated by Avery et al in 1944.

What is transformation in terms of bacteria?

Transformation is the process by which foreign DNA is introduced into a cell. Transformation of bacteria with plasmids is important not only for studies in bacteria but also because bacteria are used as the means for both storing and replicating plasmids.

What happens to bacteria during transformation?

In transformation, the DNA (usually in the form of a plasmid) is introduced into a competent strain of bacteria, so that the bacteria may then replicate the sequence of interest in amounts suitable for further analysis and/or manipulation.