Recombinant bacteria are bacteria that have undergone genetic engineering. This means their DNA has been altered by the introduction of new DNA. Such bacteria have been of immense value in biological research, and for industrial and environmental uses.
New DNA is often introduced in some sort of vehicle that is known as avector. This can be a plasmid or a virus. The plasmid has a type of selectable marker, so that the cells will keep producing it. Often, this is antibiotic resistance. It is also possible to introduce a gene directly into thebacterium’s own DNA.
Often when a new gene is cloned, it is expressed in a microorganism, and frequently in bacteria. The lab rat of the bacterial world is Escherichia coli, commonly found in our intestines. Many strains of E. coli are available forcloning experiments.
Many cloning kits are available that facilitate a high level of expression of protein produced by a cloned gene in E. coli. This is known asoverexpression. In basic research, such techniques help provide enough material to study the function and properties of the product of the gene.