Abstract
Agrobacterium tumefaciens transforms a wide variety of dicotyledonous plants by introducing a specific piece of DNA (T-DNA) of a large tumor-inducing plasmid (Ti-plasmid) into plant cells. A wide variety of dicotyledonous plants and some gymnosperms are susceptible to infection. However, the ease of infectability and the efficiency of transformation vary widely within these groups. As a general rule, most of the gymnosperms are infected only with difficulty if at all. The transfer of the T-DNA to plant cells depends upon the activity of a region of the Ti-plasmid termed the virulence (vir) region. We have shown that the efficiency of transfer and the host range properties of Agrobacterium are, in large part, due to the genes in the vir region. In particular, virA, a regulatory molecule which recognizes plant signals, seems to be especially important. In addition, we have identified other regions which seem to be associated with the efficiency of transformation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akiyoshi, D.E., H. Klee, R.M. Amasino, E.W. Nester, and M.P. Gordon (1984) T-DNA of Agrobacterium tumefaciens encodes an enzyme of cytokinin biosynthesis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 81:5994–5998.
Bolton, G.W., M.P. Gordon, and E.W. Nester (1986) Plant phenolic compounds induce expression of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens loci required for virulence. Science 232:983–985.
Buchholz, W.G., and M.F. Thomashow (1984) Host range encoded by the Agrobacterium tumefaciens tumor-inducing plasmid pTiAg63 can be expanded by modification of its T-DNA oncogene complement. J. Bacteriol. 160:327–332.
Douglas, C., W. Halperin, M. Gordon, and E. Nester (1985) Specific attachment of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to bamboo cells in suspension cultures. J. Bacteriol. 161:764–766.
Draper, J., A. MacKenzie, M. Davy, and J. Freeman (1983) Attachment of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to mechanically isolated asparagus cells. Plant Sci. Lett. 29:227–236.
Garfinkel, D.J., and E.W. Nester (1980) Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants affected in crown gall tumorigenesis and octopine catabolism. J. Bacteriol. 144:732–743.
Goodman, R.N., Z. Kiraly, and K.R. Wood (1986) The Biochemistry and Physiology of Plant Disease, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri, 433 pp.
Hoekema, A., P.R. Hirsch, P. Hooykaas, and R.A, Schilperoort (1983) Abinary plant vector strategy based on separation of vir and T-region of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmid. Nature 303:179–180.
Hood, E., G. Jen, L. Kayes, J. Kramer, R. Fraley, and M.-D. Chilton (1984) Restriction endonuclease map of pTiB0542, a potential Ti-plasmid vector for genetic engineering of plants. Bio/Technology 2:702–709.
Horsch, R.B., H.J. Klee, S. Stachel, S.C. Winans, E.W. Nester, S.G. Rogers, and R.T. Fraley (1986) Analysis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens virulence mutants in leaf discs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 83: 2571–2575
Jefferson, R.A., S. Burgess, and D. Hirsh (1986) Beta-glucuronidase from Escherichia coli as a gene-fusion marker. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 83:8447–8451.
Jin, S., T. Komari, M.P. Gordon, and E.W. Nester (1987) Genes responsible for the supervirulent phenotype of Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain A281. J. Bacteriol. (in press).
Kaiss-Chapman, R.W., and R.O. Morris (1977) Trans-zeatin in culture filtrates of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 76:453–459.
Komari, T., W. Halperin, and E. Nester (1986) Physical and functional map of supervirulent Agrobacterium tumefaciens tumor-inducing plasmid pTiBo542. J. Bacteriol. 166:88–94.
Leroux, B., M.F. Yanofsky, S.C. Winans, J.E. Ward, S.F. Ziegler, and E.W. Nester (1987) Characterization of the virA locus of Agrobacterium tumefaciens: A transcriptional regulator and host range determinant. EMBO J. 6:849–856.
Matthysse, A., and R.H. Gurlitz (1982) Plant cell range for attachment of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to tissue culture cells. Physiol. Plant Pathol. 21:381–387.
Nester, E.W., M.P. Gordon, R.M. Amasino, and M.F. Yanofsky (1984) Crown gall: A molecular and physiological analysis. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. 35:387–413.
Panagopoulos, C., and P.G. Psallidas (1973) Characteristics of Greek isolates of Agrobacterium tumefaciens (E.F. Smith and Townsend) Conn. J. Appl. Bacteriol. 36:233–240.
Powell, A.L., and M.P. Gordon (1987) Plant tumor formation. In Biochemistry of Plants: A Comprehensive Treatise. Vol. II. Molecular Biology, S. Marcus, ed. Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Florida (in press).
Schafer, W., A. Gorz, and G. Kahl (1987) T-DNA integration and expression in a monocot crop plant after induction of Agrobacterium. Nature 327:529–532.
Schroder, G., S. Waffenschmidt, E. Weiler, and J. Schroder (1984) The T-region of Ti-plasmids codes for an enzyme synthesizing indole-3-acetic acid. Eur. J. Biochem. 138:387–391.
Stachel, S.E., and E.W. Nester (1986) The genetic and transcriptional organization of the vir region of the A6 Ti-plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. EMBO J. 5:1445–1454.
Stachel, S.E., and P. Zambryski (1986) Agrobacterium tumefaciens and the susceptible plant cell: A novel adaptation of extracellular recognition and DNA conjugation. Cell 47:155–157.
Stachel, S.E., E. Messens, M. Van Montagu, and P. Zambryski (1985) Identification of the signal molecules produced by wounded plant cells that activate T-DNA transfer in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Nature 318:624–629.
Thomashow, L., A. Reeves, and M. Thomashow (1984) Crown gall oncogenesis: Evidence that a T-DNA gene from the Agrobacterium Ti-plasmid pTiA6 encodes an enzyme that catalyzes synthesis of indoleacetic acid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 81:5071–5075.
Thomashow, M., W. Hugly, W.G. Buchholz, and L. Thomashow (1986) Molecular basis for the auxin-independent phenotype of crown gall tumor tissues. Science 231:616–618.
Thomashow, M.F., R. Nutter, K. Postle, M.-D. Chilton, F.R. Blattner, A. Powell, M.P. Gordon, and E.W. Nester (1980) Recombination between higher plant DNA and the Ti-plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 77:6448–6452.
Winans, S.C., P.R. Ebert, S.E. Stachel, M.P. Gordon, and E.W. Nester (1986) A gene essential for Agrobacterium virulence is homologous to a family of positive regulatory loci. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 83:8278–8282.
Yamada, T., C. Palm, B. Brooks, and T. Kosuge (1985) Nucleotide sequences of t h e Pseudomonas savastonoi indoleacetic acid genes show homology with Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 82:6522–6526.
Yanofsky, M., B. Lowe, A. Montoya, R. Rubin, W. Krul, M. Gordon, and E. Nester (1985) Molecular and genetic analysis of factors controlling host range in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Mol. Gen. Genet. 201:237–246.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nester, E.W. (1988). Analysis of Host Range in Transformation of Higher Plants by Agrobacterium Tumefaciens . In: Hanover, J.W., Keathley, D.E., Wilson, C.M., Kuny, G. (eds) Genetic Manipulation of Woody Plants. Basic Life Sciences, vol 44. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1661-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1661-9_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8922-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1661-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive