Pilus Assembly by Agrobacterium T-DNA Transfer Genes

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 273; no. 5278; pp. 1107 - 1109
• Main Authors: Fullner, Karla Jean, Lara, J. Cano, Nester, Eugene W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 23.08.1996; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Agrobacterium; Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - genetics; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - growth & development; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - pathogenicity; Agrobacterium tumefaciens - ultrastructure; Bacteria; Bacterial plant pathogens; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - physiology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Cellular biology; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease transmission; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA, Bacterial - physiology; Fimbriae, Bacterial - ultrastructure; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic aspects; Genetic mutation; Genetics; Logical Thinking; Low temperature; Microbiology; Molecular Biology; Operons; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Plant cells; Plant diseases; Plant tumor inducing plasmids; Plasmids; Plasmids - genetics; Systematics. Structure, properties and multiplication. Genetics; Transformation, Genetic; Virulence; Plant pathogen; Molecular assembly; Ti Plasmid; Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Bacteria; Transforming DNA; Pilus; Rhizobiaceae; Genetic transfer
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.273.5278.1107

Agrobacterium tumefaciens can genetically transform eukaryotic cells. In many bacteria, pili are required for interbacterial DNA transfer. The formation of pili by Agrobacterium required induction of tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid-encoded virulence genes and growth at low temperature. A genetic analysis demonstrated that virA, virG, virB1 through virB11, and virD4 are the only Ti plasmid genes necessary for pilus assembly. The loss and gain of pili in various mutants correlated with the loss and gain of transferred DNA (T-DNA) transfer functions, which is consistent with the view that Agrobacterium pili are required for transfer of DNA to plant cells in a process similar to that of conjugation.