FAQ: Can I use a different competent E. coli strain than the provided NEB 10-beta strain?

While this cloning system works well with a variety of cell strains, it is important to use a cell strain with robust growth to maintain selection pressure towards plasmid constructs containing your insert. In addition to the provided NEB 10-beta Competent E. coli (Cloning Efficiency) in NEB PCR Cloning Kit (NEB #E1202), cell strains that work well with this cloning kit include NEB Turbo (NEB #C2984) and NEBExpress (NEB #C2523) Competent E. coli. The 5-alpha strains are not recommended, as their slightly slower growth rate does not support strong background suppression.