FAQ: Can a different bacterial strain be used with the Ph.D.™ Phage Display?

In theory other F+ strains containing the supE suppressor mutation (such as XL1-Blue and DH5αF´) should work with our phage display system. However, we have not tested these strains with our libraries and do not know whether here will be any subtle effects on the expression or transport of certain peptides out of the cell. Since the Ph.D. libraries are made in ER2738 (NEB #E4104S), we know that all the peptides in the libraries can be successfully expressed in this strain. Therefore, we recommend this strain over any other one.