Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1991 Nov;10(11):3125–3128. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb04873.x

The protein encoded by the rolB plant oncogene hydrolyses indole glucosides.

J J Estruch 1, J Schell 1, A Spena 1
PMCID: PMC453033  PMID: 1915286

Abstract

The rolB gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes, whose expression stimulates the formation of roots by transformed plant tissues and other growth alterations in transgenic plants, codes for a beta-glucosidase able to hydrolyse indole-beta-glucosides. Indeed, we show that extracts of bacteria and/or plant tissue expressing the rolB protein hydrolyse indoxyl-beta-glucoside (plant indican). Because of the structural similarity between indoxyl-beta-glucoside and indole-3-acetyl-beta-glucoside (IAA-beta-glucoside), we propose that the physiological and developmental alterations in transgenic plants expressing the rolB gene could be the result of an increased intracellular auxin activity caused by the release of active auxins from inactive beta-glucosides. Thus two of the oncogenes carried by the T-DNA of the plant pathogen Agrobacterium rhizogenes (rolB and rolC) perturb plant growth and development by coding for beta-glucosidases with distinct specificities. Whereas the rolC beta-glucosidase releases cytokinins from their glucoside conjugates, the rolB encoded protein hydrolyses indole-beta-glucosides. The combined action of these two genes therefore is expected to modulate the intracellular concentration of two of the main growth factors active in plants.

Full text

PDF
3125

Images in this article

3126Image
on p.3126
3127Image
on p.3127
3127Image
on p.3127

Selected References

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

  1. Andreae W. A., Good N. E. The Formation of Indoleacetylaspartic Acid in Pea Seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1955 Jul;30(4):380–382. doi: 10.1104/pp.30.4.380. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Cardarelli M, Mariotti D, Pomponi M, Spanò L, Capone I, Costantino P. Agrobacterium rhizogenes T-DNA genes capable of inducing hairy root phenotype. Mol Gen Genet. 1987 Oct;209(3):475–480. doi: 10.1007/BF00331152. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Estruch J. J., Chriqui D., Grossmann K., Schell J., Spena A. The plant oncogene rolC is responsible for the release of cytokinins from glucoside conjugates. EMBO J. 1991 Oct;10(10):2889–2895. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1991.tb07838.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Schmülling T., Schell J., Spena A. Single genes from Agrobacterium rhizogenes influence plant development. EMBO J. 1988 Sep;7(9):2621–2629. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03114.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Shen W. H., Petit A., Guern J., Tempé J. Hairy roots are more sensitive to auxin than normal roots. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 May;85(10):3417–3421. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.10.3417. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Sinkar V. P., Pythoud F., White F. F., Nester E. W., Gordon M. P. rolA locus of the Ri plasmid directs developmental abnormalities in transgenic tobacco plants. Genes Dev. 1988 Jun;2(6):688–697. doi: 10.1101/gad.2.6.688. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Slightom J. L., Durand-Tardif M., Jouanin L., Tepfer D. Nucleotide sequence analysis of TL-DNA of Agrobacterium rhizogenes agropine type plasmid. Identification of open reading frames. J Biol Chem. 1986 Jan 5;261(1):108–121. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Spena A., Schmülling T., Koncz C., Schell J. S. Independent and synergistic activity of rol A, B and C loci in stimulating abnormal growth in plants. EMBO J. 1987 Dec 20;6(13):3891–3899. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02729.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Tepfer D. Transformation of several species of higher plants by Agrobacterium rhizogenes: sexual transmission of the transformed genotype and phenotype. Cell. 1984 Jul;37(3):959–967. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90430-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. White F. F., Taylor B. H., Huffman G. A., Gordon M. P., Nester E. W. Molecular and genetic analysis of the transferred DNA regions of the root-inducing plasmid of Agrobacterium rhizogenes. J Bacteriol. 1985 Oct;164(1):33–44. doi: 10.1128/jb.164.1.33-44.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. ZENK M. H. I-(Indole-3-acetyl)-beta-D-glucose, a new compound in the metabolism of indole-3-acetic acid in plants. Nature. 1961 Jul 29;191:493–494. doi: 10.1038/191493a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Zambryski P., Tempe J., Schell J. Transfer and function of T-DNA genes from agrobacterium Ti and Ri plasmids in plants. Cell. 1989 Jan 27;56(2):193–201. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90892-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES