Figure 1. Agrobacterium transformation process depends on the concerted action of numerous bacterial and plant biological factors, since the intracellular T-DNA transport to its integration into the plant genome and expression. The final outcome of the interaction depends on the ability of the bacterium to hijack fundamental cellular processes and to by-pass or suppress the defenses of the host cell. 1. Agrobacterium attachment to the plant cell; 2. transfer of T-strands and virulence effector proteins through the plant plasma membrane into the plant cell; 3. T-complex and super-T-complex formation and subsequent cytoplasmic trafficking; 4. nuclear targeting; 5. Targeting of the super-Tcomplex to chromatin; 6. removal of proteins from the super-T-complex prior to T-DNA integration into the plant genome, transgene integration and expression (Fig. adapted from⁴³).