Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1986 Jan;83(2):379–383. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.2.379

A plant cell factor induces Agrobacterium tumefaciens vir gene expression

Scott E Stachel *,†, Eugene W Nester *, Patricia C Zambryski †
PMCID: PMC322862  PMID: 16593648

Abstract

The virulence genes of Agrobacterium are required for this organism to genetically transform plant cells. We show that vir gene expression is specifically induced by a small (<1000 Da) diffusible plant cell metabolite present in limiting quantities in the exudates of a variety of plant cell cultures. Active plant cell metabolism is required for the synthesis of the vir-inducing factor, and the presence of bacteria does not stimulate this production. vir-inducing factor is (i) heat and cold stable; (ii) pH stable, although vir induction with the factor is sensitive above pH 6.0; and (iii) partially hydrophobic. Induction of vir gene expression was assayed by monitoring β-galactosidase activity in Agrobacterium strains that carry gene fusions between each of the vir loci and the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli. vir-inducing factor (partially purified on a C-18 column) induces both the expression in Agrobacterium of six distinct loci and the production of T-DNA circular molecules, which are thought to be involved in the transformation process. vir-inducing factor potentially represents the signal that Agrobacterium recognizes in nature as a plant cell susceptible to transformation.

Keywords: virulence gene expression, vir gene induction, plant-synthesized vir-inducing factor, bacterial-plant cell recognition

Full text

PDF

Selected References

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

  1. A simple and general method for transferring genes into plants. Science. 1985 Mar 8;227(4691):1229–1231. doi: 10.1126/science.227.4691.1229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. An G., Watson B. D., Stachel S., Gordon M. P., Nester E. W. New cloning vehicles for transformation of higher plants. EMBO J. 1985 Feb;4(2):277–284. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03626.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Braun A. C. Plant tumors. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1978 Oct 27;516(2):167–191. doi: 10.1016/0304-419x(78)90007-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Garfinkel D. J., Nester E. W. Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants affected in crown gall tumorigenesis and octopine catabolism. J Bacteriol. 1980 Nov;144(2):732–743. doi: 10.1128/jb.144.2.732-743.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hooykaas P. J., Hofker M., den Dulk-Ras H., Schilperoort R. A. A comparison of virulence determinants in an octopine Ti plasmid, a nopaline Ti plasmid, and an Ri plasmid by complementation analysis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens mutants. Plasmid. 1984 May;11(3):195–205. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(84)90026-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Klee H. J., White F. F., Iyer V. N., Gordon M. P., Nester E. W. Mutational analysis of the virulence region of an Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1983 Feb;153(2):878–883. doi: 10.1128/jb.153.2.878-883.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Knauf V. C., Nester E. W. Wide host range cloning vectors: a cosmid clone bank of an Agrobacterium Ti plasmid. Plasmid. 1982 Jul;8(1):45–54. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(82)90040-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Montoya A. L., Chilton M. D., Gordon M. P., Sciaky D., Nester E. W. Octopine and nopaline metabolism in Agrobacterium tumefaciens and crown gall tumor cells: role of plasmid genes. J Bacteriol. 1977 Jan;129(1):101–107. doi: 10.1128/jb.129.1.101-107.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Okker R. J., Spaink H., Hille J., van Brussel T. A., Lugtenberg B., Schilperoort R. A. Plant-inducible virulence promoter of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid. Nature. 1984 Dec 6;312(5994):564–566. doi: 10.1038/312564a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stachel S. E., An G., Flores C., Nester E. W. A Tn3 lacZ transposon for the random generation of beta-galactosidase gene fusions: application to the analysis of gene expression in Agrobacterium. EMBO J. 1985 Apr;4(4):891–898. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03715.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Vervliet G., Holsters M., Teuchy H., Van Montagu M., Schell J. Characterization of different plaque-forming and defective temperate phages in Agrobacterium. J Gen Virol. 1975 Jan;26(1):33–48. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-26-1-33. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Wang K., Herrera-Estrella L., Van Montagu M., Zambryski P. Right 25 bp terminus sequence of the nopaline T-DNA is essential for and determines direction of DNA transfer from agrobacterium to the plant genome. Cell. 1984 Sep;38(2):455–462. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90500-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Wullems G. J., Molendijk L., Ooms G., Schilperoort R. A. Differential expression of crown gall tumor markers in transformants obtained after in vitro Agrobacterium tumefaciens-induced transformation of cell wall regenerating protoplasts derived from Nicotiana tabacum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jul;78(7):4344–4348. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.7.4344. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Zambryski P., Joos H., Genetello C., Leemans J., Montagu M. V., Schell J. Ti plasmid vector for the introduction of DNA into plant cells without alteration of their normal regeneration capacity. EMBO J. 1983;2(12):2143–2150. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01715.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES