Abstract
The soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes the plant tumour crown gall at wound sites on dicotyledonous plants. During crown gall induction, which is only possible during a limited period of time (less than 72 hours) after wounding, agrobacteria transfer a segment of their tumour-inducing (Ti)- plasmid to plant cells at the wound sites. This transferred (T)- DNA becomes integrated in one or more of the chromosomes of the host plant cells usually either in one copy or in a limited number of copies. The T-DNA contains genes for enzymes capable of mediating the production of an auxin (IAA) and a cytokinin (isopentenyl-AMP), which are responsible for the tumorous character of crown gall cells. It is not yet known how exactly the T-DNA is transferred from agrobacteria to plant cells, but numerous genes have been identified in the bacterium which are involved in this process. Some of these genes are located in the chromosome (chromosomal virulence (chv)-genes), whereas others are Ti plasmid borne (vir-genes). Mutants with defects in either of the two chv-genes do not produce extracellular β1, 2-glucan and show a loss of the ability to attach to the plant cells. The role of vir-genes in crown gall induction will be described below. A number of recent reviews describe several aspects of the Agrobacterium-plant interaction in detail (Hooykaas and Schilperoort 1984; Nester et al 1984; Koukolikova-Nicola et al 1987; Melchers and Hooykaas 1988).
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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Hooykaas, P.J.J., Melchers, L.S., Rodenburg, C.W., van Veen, R.J.M. (1989). Regulation of the Agrobacterium Virulence Genes by Plant Factors. In: Lugtenberg, B.J.J. (eds) Signal Molecules in Plants and Plant-Microbe Interactions. NATO ASI Series, vol 36. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74158-6_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74158-6_17
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