TOP10 Competent Cells

Product box and its contents: 21 tubes of One Shot TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli, 1 vial of pUC19 DNA, and 1 bottle of SOC medium

What are TOP10 competent cells?

TOP10 cells are the most popular E. coli strain engineered for high transformation efficiency (>1 x 10⁹ cfu/µg). They are suitable for cloning supercoiled DNA and allow stable replication of high-copy number plasmids. TOP10 competent cells have a genotype similar to DH10B, and derivative strains for different applications are available.

Benefits of TOP10 competent cells

Broad utility—Suitable for cloning genomic (methylated) mammalian and plant DNA, library construction, or any routine cloning application
Multiple formats—One Shot and MultiShot
Available as chemically competent and electrocompetent cells
Blue-white colony screening

Which TOP10 competent cells are right for you?

Routine cloning
Specialized cloning

TOP10 competent cells for routine cloning

	One Shot TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli	MultiShot StripWell TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli	MultiShot FlexPlate TOP10 Competent Cells	MultiShot TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli

Best for	Enhanced genomic DNA cloning capabilities Convenient single-use format	High-throughput applications	High-throughput applications Compatible with automated liquid handling systems	Microtiter plate format High-throughput applications Compatible with automated liquid handling systems
Type of transformation	Chemical	Chemical	Chemical	Chemical
Transformation efficiency	>1 x 10⁹ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg
Available formats	11 x 50 µL/tube 21 x 50 µL/tube 42 x 50 µL/tube	1 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube 5 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube 10 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube	1 x 96 well plate with 20 µL/well	5 x 96 well plate with 15 µL/well

Protocol for routine cloning using TOP10 competent cells

TOP10 competent cells for specialized cloning applications

	TOP10 Electrocomp™ Kit	One Shot TOP10 Electrocomp™ E. coli	One Shot TOP10/P3 Chemically Competent E. coli	TOP10F´ Electrocomp™ Kit	One Shot TOP10F´ Chemically Competent E. coli

Best for	High transformation efficiency is needed (e.g., small DNA amount)	High transformation efficiency is needed (e.g., small DNA amount) Single-use format	Selection of supF-containing plasmids	Carries F' episome for ssDNA isolation	Carries F' episome for ssDNA isolation Single-use format
Type of transformation	Electroporation	Electroporation	Chemical	Electroporation	Chemical
Transformation efficiency	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁹cfu/µg
Available formats	5 x 100 µL/tube 10 x 100 µL/tube	11 x 50 µL/tube 21 x 50 µL/tube	21 x 50 µL/tube	10 x 100 μL/tube	21 x 50 µL/tube 42 x 50 µL/tube

These competent cells are available under license for use in your services or for use in manufacturing your products for sale. Please contact us at outlicensing@thermofisher.com.

Routine cloning

TOP10 competent cells for routine cloning

	One Shot TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli	MultiShot StripWell TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli	MultiShot FlexPlate TOP10 Competent Cells	MultiShot TOP10 Chemically Competent E. coli

Best for	Enhanced genomic DNA cloning capabilities Convenient single-use format	High-throughput applications	High-throughput applications Compatible with automated liquid handling systems	Microtiter plate format High-throughput applications Compatible with automated liquid handling systems
Type of transformation	Chemical	Chemical	Chemical	Chemical
Transformation efficiency	>1 x 10⁹ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg
Available formats	11 x 50 µL/tube 21 x 50 µL/tube 42 x 50 µL/tube	1 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube 5 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube 10 x 96 tube rack with 50 µL/tube	1 x 96 well plate with 20 µL/well	5 x 96 well plate with 15 µL/well

Protocol for routine cloning using TOP10 competent cells

Specialized cloning

TOP10 competent cells for specialized cloning applications

	TOP10 Electrocomp™ Kit	One Shot TOP10 Electrocomp™ E. coli	One Shot TOP10/P3 Chemically Competent E. coli	TOP10F´ Electrocomp™ Kit	One Shot TOP10F´ Chemically Competent E. coli

Best for	High transformation efficiency is needed (e.g., small DNA amount)	High transformation efficiency is needed (e.g., small DNA amount) Single-use format	Selection of supF-containing plasmids	Carries F' episome for ssDNA isolation	Carries F' episome for ssDNA isolation Single-use format
Type of transformation	Electroporation	Electroporation	Chemical	Electroporation	Chemical
Transformation efficiency	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁸ cfu/µg	>1 x 10¹⁰ cfu/µg	>1 x 10⁹cfu/µg
Available formats	5 x 100 µL/tube 10 x 100 µL/tube	11 x 50 µL/tube 21 x 50 µL/tube	21 x 50 µL/tube	10 x 100 μL/tube	21 x 50 µL/tube 42 x 50 µL/tube

These competent cells are available under license for use in your services or for use in manufacturing your products for sale. Please contact us at outlicensing@thermofisher.com.

Still not sure which strain to use? Compare TOP10 competent cell genotypes

Top10 competent cells: Popular citations

Applications	Publications
One Shot TOP10 chemically competent cells are used for the generation of a scFv library and enrichment of scFv clones.	Pastan I, Ho M (2009) Display and selection of scFv antibodies on HEK-293T cells. Methods Mol Biol 562:99–113.
Construction of genome editing nuclease protein expression vectors use TOP10 chemically competent cells.	Barbas III C, Liu J, Yang Y, et al. (2015) Efficient delivery of nuclease proteins for genome editing in human stem cells and primary cells. Nature Protocols 10(11):1842–1859.
Zika studies enabled through generation of cDNA and cloning using TOP10 cells.	Shan C, Xie X, Muruato AE, et al. (2016) An Infectious cDNA Clone of Zika Virus to Study Viral Virulence, Mosquito Transmission, and Antiviral Inhibitors. Cell Host & Microbe 19:891–900.
TOP10 chemically competent cells were used to construct CRISPR-Cas9 vectors for plants.	Andersson M, Turesson H, Nicolia A (2017) Efficient targeted multiallelic mutagenesis in tetraploid potato (Solanum tuberosum) by transient CRISPR-Cas9 expression in protoplasts. Plant Cell Reports 36:117–128.
TOP10 together with Stbl3 stain had been used to construct CRISPR-Cas13b vectors for SARS-CoV-2 research.	Fareh M, Zhao W, Hu W, et al. (2021) Reprogrammed CRISPR-Cas13b suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication and circumvents its mutational escape through mismatch tolerance. Nat Commun 12(1):4270

Competent cells: Featured products

In addition to competent cells, we offer a broad suite of products for the cloning workflow.

Magnified image of purple, rod-shaped bacteria

Microbial
media

Explore types of bacterial growth media to use for cloning, plasmid DNA preparation, and protein expression.

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Electroporation
cuvettes

Learn more about universal-fit electroporation cuvettes for use with competent cells.

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TOPO PCR
cloning kits

Learn more about one-step PCR cloning that combines traditional restriction and ligation cloning.

View TOPO kits

Gibson Assembly
cloning kits

Gibson Assembly cloning kits provide highly efficient, seamless cloning, enabling the assembly of multiple DNA fragments of varying lengths into any vector.

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Resources

Have any questions on competent cells or transformation? Click on the resources listed below to access overviews, videos, genotype guides, and educational resources.