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. 1993 May;59(5):1310–1317. doi: 10.1128/aem.59.5.1310-1317.1993

Correlative Association between Resident Plasmids and the Host Chromosome in a Diverse Agrobacterium Soil Population

Hacène Bouzar 1,†,*, Djaouida Ouadah 1, Zoulikha Krimi 1, Jeffrey B Jones 1, Maurizio Trovato 1,‡, Annik Petit 1, Yves Dessaux 1
PMCID: PMC182082  PMID: 16348927

Abstract

Soil samples collected from a fallow field which had not been cultivated for 5 years harbored a population of Agrobacterium spp. estimated at 3 × 107 CFU/g. Characterization of 72 strains selected from four different isolation media showed the presence of biovar 1 (56%) and bv. 2 (44%) strains. Pathogenicity assays on five different test plants revealed a high proportion (33%) of tumorigenic strains in the resident population. All tumorigenic strains belonged to bv. 1. Differentiation of the strains by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of cellular proteins, and utilization patterns of 95 carbon substrates (Biolog GN microplate) revealed a diversified bv. 1 population, composed of five distinct chromosomal backgrounds (chr A, C, D, E, and F), and a homogeneous bv. 2 population (chr B). chr A, B, C, and D were detected at similar levels throughout the study site. According to opine metabolism, pathogenicity, and agrocin sensitivity, chr A strains carried a nopaline Ti plasmid (pTi), whereas chr C strains had an octopine pTi. In addition, four of six nontumorigenic bv. 1 strains (two chr D, one chr E, and one chr F) had distinct and unusual opine catabolism patterns. chr B (bv. 2) strains were nonpathogenic and catabolized nopaline. Although agrocin sensitivity is a pTi-borne trait, 14 chr B strains were sensitive to agrocin 84, apparently harboring a defective nopaline pTi similar to pAtK84b. The other two chr B strains were agrocin resistant. The present analysis of chromosomal and plasmid phenotypes suggests that in this Agrobacterium soil population, there is a preferential association between the resident plasmids and their bacterial host.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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