[Development of highly efficient electrocompetent cells for electroporation of NCIMB 11955].

is a kind of Gram-positive facultative anaerobic bacteria. The fast growth rate under high temperature and less susceptibility to microbial contamination enable . to be a desirable producer of biofuels and high-value-added chemicals for the next-generation industrial biotechnology. However, compared with the classical model strain , the applications of . are hampered by its low transformation efficiency. This study aimed at obtaining competent cells with high transformation efficiency through inactivating restriction enzymes, adding cell membrane inhibitors and cell wall weakening agents. The results showed that the electro-transformation efficiency achieved 1.2×10 CFU/(μg DNA) by knocking out four genes encoding restriction enzymes. Adding a certain amount of tween 80, dl-threonine and glycine further increased the competent efficiency about 22.5, 44, and 334 times, respectively. The electro-transformation efficiency was enhanced to 4.6×10 CFU/(μg DNA) under the optimized conditions, laying a foundation for genetic manipulation and metabolic engineering of . .