Abstract
The plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens can induce crown gall tumours in a wide range of dicotyledonous plants. To be virulent an Agrobacterium strain must contain a tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid1,2. Most Ti plasmids fall into one of two groups, based on whether they code for enzymes for octopine or nopaline utilisation3,4. Tumours induced by strains carrying octopine or nopaline type Tiplasmids generally synthesise octopine or nopaline respectively3,4. Normal plant tissues do not synthesise these unusual amino acid derivatives5,6. Chilton et al.7 have analysed total DNA isolated from a cloned sterile tobacco crown gall callus and found sequences (T-DNA) complementary to ∼5% of the Ti plasmid that are not found in normal tobacco callus. Thus, Agrobacterium can induce and maintain tumours by introducing genetic information stably into plant cells. It is evident that plasmid sequences have a central role in Agrobacterium virulence. Based on metabolic and physiological properties, most isolates of A. tumefaciens can be classified as either biotype 1 or biotype 2 organisms8,9. They have a broad host range, inducing tumours on most dicotyledonous plants. Recently, however, strains isolated in Greece and Russia from grapevine tumours have been shown to have a limited host range10,11. These organisms are also unique in that they do not fit into either of the previously described biotypes and have therefore been assigned to a new class, biotype 3 (refs 11, 12). We felt that these limited host range organisms could provide a system to study determinants of host range: if host range is determined solely by plasmid genes, the transfer of the Ti plasmid from a limited host range biotype 3 organism (assuming the biotype 3 organism had a Ti plasmid) to a biotype 1 organism that had been cured of its Ti plasmid, should yield a transformant of limited host range. The transformant should have a wide host range if this is a chromosomally borne trait. In this report we present data suggesting that the Ti plasmid has a major role in determining host range.
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Thomashow, M., Panagopoulos, C., Gordon, M. et al. Host range of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is determined by the Ti plasmid. Nature 283, 794–796 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283794a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283794a0
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