Plasmids are relatively small, circular pieces of DNA. They are found in bacteria, in addition to the chromosomal DNA. Chromosomal DNA in E. coli is around 4,600,000 base pairs, while a typical plasmid is only a few thousand base pairs.

You'll be starting out with two different plasmids. One plasmid, called "pKAN," contains a gene which provides resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin. This plasmid is 4194 base pairs long. Click on the image below to see the sequence of base pairs.

The other plasmid you're using is called "pAMP," which contains a gene providing resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin. This plasmid is 4539 base pairs long. Click on the image below to see the sequence of base pairs.