Left: Bacteria transformed with pGLO under ambient light
Right:Bacteria transformed with pGLO visualized under ultraviolet light
Right:Bacteria transformed with pGLO visualized under ultraviolet light
Left: Bacteria transformed with pGLO exposed to ampicillin and ambient light
Right:Bacteria transformed with pGLO exposed to ampicillin, arabinose and ultraviolet light
Right:Bacteria transformed with pGLO exposed to ampicillin, arabinose and ultraviolet light
The pGLO plasmid is an engineered plasmid used in biotechnology as a vector for creating genetically modified organisms. The plasmid contains several reporter genes, most notably the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the ampicillin resistance gene. GFP was isolated from the jelly fish Aequorea victoria. Because it shares a bidirectional promoter with a gene for metabolizing arabinose, the GFP gene is expressed in the presence of arabinose, which makes the transgenic organism express its fluorescence under UV light. GFP can be induced in bacteria containing the pGLO plasmid by growing them on +arabinose plates. pGLO is made by Bio-Rad Laboratories.