Question

an mi student was attempting to transform bacterial cells. he realized he forgot to perform the calcium chloride and heat shock step before plating the bacteria. how will this likely affect his results?
he will likely still have good results because the calcium chloride/ heat step is optional one.
he will likely see a lawn on bacterial growth because he forgot to eliminate non - resistant bacteria.
he will likely have few transformed bacteria because the plasmid would not have been taken into the bacteria.
he will likely have few transformed cells because the bacterial cell did not have an opportunity to become antibiotic resistant.

Explanation:

Calcium chloride and heat - shock steps are crucial in bacterial transformation. Calcium chloride makes the bacterial cell membrane more permeable (by neutralizing the negative charges on the membrane and DNA), and heat - shock creates a temperature gradient that helps the plasmid DNA enter the cell. Without these steps, the plasmid (which often contains antibiotic - resistance genes for selection) is less likely to be taken up by the bacteria. So, there will be few transformed bacteria.

Answer:

He will likely have few transformed bacteria because the plasmid would not have been taken into the bacteria.