What is the purpose of arabinose in bacterial transformation?

Arabinose is often included in bacterial transformation experiments to regulate the expression of genes on the plasmid introduced into the bacteria. For example, in systems using the ara operon, arabinose acts as an inducer that activates the promoter controlling the gene of interest. This allows researchers to control when and how much of a protein is produced by the transformed bacteria, making it a valuable tool for studying gene expression and protein synthesis.