Agrobacterium

 Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes are members of the Agrobacterium genus of soil bacteria responsible, respectively, for tumor formation and hairy root disease in dicotyledenous plants. The molecular basis of inducting neoplastic growth in plants has been one of the most intriguing areas of research in plant pathology for more than 50 years. Advances in understanding the molecular basis of tumor formation has led to the development of vector systems based on Agrobacterium to carry out plant genetic engineering.

Agrobacterium belongs to the Rhizobiacae family. Classification of the bacterium has been based on physiological and biochemical criteria, although increasingly the taxonomic structure of the genus has been based on DNA analysis of chromosomal groups of the differing biovars (1). The best studied members of the genus are A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes. A. tumefaciens is the causative agent of crown gall disease. It has a wide, obvious host range, including the majority of dicotyledonous plants and some monocotyledonous plants (2). Practically, crown gall can be a serious disease of fruit crops, including grape vines. The physical basis of crown gall disease is the transfer of a defined region of DNA, transferred or T-DNA, from a plasmid maintained in the bacteria, known as the Ti or tumor-inducing plasmid (see Ti Plasmid) to the genome of the infected plant cell. A. rhizogenes induces hairy root disease analogously. A T-DNA is transferred from the Ri, or root-inducing, plasmid to the genome of the infected plant cell (see Ri Plasmid). This natural form of plant cell transformation has been adapted and used extensively in creating transgenic plants (see Plant Genetic Engineering).

References

1. H. Bouzar, J. B. Jones, and A. Bishop (1995) In Agrobacterium Protocols (K. M. A. Gartland and M. R. Davey, eds.), Humana Press, Totowa, NJ, pp. 9–13.

2. M. DeCleene and J. DeLey (1976) Bot. Rev. 113, 81–89.