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Sequences homologous to Agrobacterium rhizogenes T-DNA in the genomes of uninfected plants

Nature volume 301, pages 348–350 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Agrobacterium rhizogenes causes the plant disease known as hairy root. Like crown gall disease, which is caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, hairy root disease is characterized by the proliferation of plant tissue at a wound site on infection by the bacterium. In both diseases, a large plasmid in the bacterium encodes essential virulence traits1–4, and a portion of the plasmid is transferred, maintained and expressed in the plant genome5–15. The transferred DNA, or T-DNA, encodes the synthesis of opines and, in an unknown manner, confers phytohormone-independent growth16–21. Virulence in A. rhizogenes strain A4 is associated with the 240 kilobase (kb) Ri (root-inducing) plasmid pRiA4b (ref. 4). The DNA from callus and root culture derived from infections by this strain contain T-DNA from a 20 kb region of the plasmid14. A surprising feature of pRiA4b is the homology between plasmid sequences and the genome of the untransformed host plant Nicotiana glauca14. Previous evidence suggested that the homologous plasmid–plant sequences were in or near the T-DNA region of the plasmid14. We now present evidence that the homologous sequences are indeed within the T-DNA of the Ri plasmid, and that at least one genetic locus on the corresponding plasmid sequences functions in the induction of the hairy root disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA

    Frank F. White, David J. Garfinkel, Gary A. Huffman & Eugene W. Nester

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195, USA

    Milton P. Gordon

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  1. Frank F. White
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  2. David J. Garfinkel
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  3. Gary A. Huffman
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  4. Milton P. Gordon
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  5. Eugene W. Nester
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White, F., Garfinkel, D., Huffman, G. et al. Sequences homologous to Agrobacterium rhizogenes T-DNA in the genomes of uninfected plants. Nature 301, 348–350 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/301348a0

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