Blue-white staining is a common technique using a reporter gene, *lacZ* which codes for Beta-galactosidase. LacZ breaks down a lactose analog which is provided in the growth plates as X-gal. This produces a blue colony. However, this process would be disrupted in the fragment of DNA is inserted into the plasmid. The white colonies have the *lacZ* gene disrupted. Through this method, the reporter gene can confirm the presence of the fragment. 

Blue-White Staining

Reporter genes are used to distinguish between the host cells that contain the vector plasmid. It may code for a protein. 

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Important Features of Vector Plasmids used for Genetic Engineering

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Many plasmids contain multiple cloning sites that contain many restriction enzyme sites that are used to insert DNA fragments into the vector plasmid DNA. 

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