Stay Positive, We’ve Got It Under Control: The Testing of a Positive Control for a Beta-Lactamase Experiment

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to identify predicted beta-lactamase genes, genes which code for enzymes that digest beta-lactam class antibiotics, in Elizabethkingiamiricola. Our group was given the positive control, a gene from Elizabethkingiameningoseptica which has already been identified as a beta-lactamase gene. We designed forward and reverse primers for this gene, which were used in PCR, polymerase chain reaction, in order to replicate this gene. After determining that PCR had been successful using gel electrophoresis, we cloned the gene in E. coli and then tested these bacteria for beta-lactam resistance. We determined that our sample of E. coli did contain genes which express beta-lactam resistance, which is the result we expected as the positive control.