What is bacterial transformation efficiency?

Transformation efficiency is a measure of how effectively bacteria take up foreign DNA during a transformation experiment. It is expressed as the number of successful transformants (cells that incorporate and express the DNA) per microgram of DNA used. Factors influencing efficiency include the type of bacteria, the method of competence induction (e.g., chemical treatment or electroporation), the quality of the DNA, and the transformation protocol. Higher efficiency indicates more successful uptake and expression of the DNA.