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. 1984 Nov;3(11):2485–2490. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02160.x

Delivery of T-DNA from the Agrobacterium tumefaciens chromosome into plant cells

A Hoekema 1, P W Roelvink 1, P J J Hooykaas 1, R A Schilperoort 1
PMCID: PMC557716  PMID: 16453562

Abstract

The intact T-region of the B6Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium tumefaciens was stepwise cloned into a site in transposon Tn3. In this way a suitable vehicle (Tn1882) was obtained for translocating the T-region to different replicons, i.e., to other plasmids or the chromosome. The IncP plasmid R772::Tn1882 conferred tumorigenicity on Agrobacterium if the virulence genes were provided in trans in the same cell. This result showed that the T-region present on Tn1882 was transferred efficiently to plant cells. Normal tumor development also occurred if the T-region was placed in the chromosome of A. tumefaciens and an R' plasmid was present carrying virA–E or virA–F. We conclude that the plasmid location of the T-region is not a prerequisite for transfer to the plant cell. The apparently normal delivery of the T-DNA from a bacterial chromosomal location supports a model involving a processing step within Agrobacterium effecting transfer of the T-region as a separate entity.

Keywords: Agrobacterium tumefaciens, binary plant vector system, chromosomal T-region integration, tumor induction

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Selected References

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