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Usually the protocol for preparing electrocompetent E. coli cells calls for growing the cells at 37deg and 225rpms until they reach OD of 0.3. I was wondering, is there any reason they should grow at optimal conditions for growth, instead of at suboptimal, for example at 30 degrees? Also, what is the physiological/epigenetic difference between a culture of OD 0.2 vs 03. vs 0.3?

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I don't know for sure, so I won't post as a formal answer, but my guess is that you want to maximize cell health and viability. Transformation of electro competent cells kills a lot of them, and you want to maximize the chance some of them survive. – Drosophila Feb 23 at 22:17

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