Abstract
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the causative agent of crown gall, a plant tumour that can arise on most species of dicotyledonous plants. The tumour-inducing capacity of the bacterium requires the presence of a large plasmid, designated the Ti plasmid1,2, which itself contains two regions essential for tumour formation—the T(umour)-region and the Vir(ulence)-region3. The T-region is transferred to plant cells by an unknown mechanism, and becomes stably integrated into the plant genome4–9. The Vir-region has been identified by transposon mutagenesis10–16, but the DNA of this region has never been detected in tumour lines4,5. However, trans-complementation of Vir mutants17 indicates that genes of the Vir-region are functional in the bacterium. Moreover, the Vir-and T-regions can be physically separated in A. tumefaciens without loss of tumour-inducing capacity18,19. Seven loci, designated virA–F and virO (refs 17, 20–22), have been identified in the Vir-region of the octopine Ti plasmid, but their functions are unknown. As virC mutants in the octopine-type plasmid pTiB6 are invariably avirulent in tests on various plant species17, this gene seems to be essential for virulence and we are studying it in detail. We report here that the promoter of virC shows no detectable activity in A. tumefaciens and Escherichia coli K-12 grown in standard medium, but that its activity is induced by a plant product.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Van Larebeke, N. et al. Nature 252, 169–170 (1974).
Watson, B., Currier, T. C., Gordon, M. P., Chilton, M.-D. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 123, 255–264 (1975).
Hooykaas, P. J. J. & Schilperoort, R. A. Adv. Genet. 22, 209–283 (1984).
Chilton, M-D. et al. Cell 11, 263–271 (1977).
Tomashaw, M. F., Nutter, R., Montaya, A. L., Gordon, M. P. & Nester, E. W. Cell 19, 729–739 (1980).
Lemmers, M. et al. J. molec. Biol. 144, 353–376 (1980).
Ooms, G. et al. Cell 30, 589–597 (1982).
Ooms, G., Hooykaas, P. J. J., Molenaar, G. & Schilperoort, R. A. Gene 14, 33–50 (1981).
Inzé, D. et al. Molec. gen. Genet. 194, 265–274 (1984).
Lundquist, R. C., Close, T. J. & Kado, C. I. Molec. gen. Genet. 193, 1–7 (1984).
Garfinkel, D. J. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 144, 732–743 (1980).
Holsters, M. et al. Plasmid 3, 212–230 (1980).
Ooms, G., Klapwijk, M. P., Poulis, J. A. & Schilperoort, R. A. J. Bact. 144, 82–91 (1980).
De Greve, H., Decraemer, H., Seurinck, J., Van Montagu, M. & Schell, J. Plasmid 6, 235–248 (1981).
Hille, J., Klasen, I. & Schilperoort, R. A. Plasmid 7, 107–118 (1982).
Iyer, V. N., Klee, H. J. & Nester, E. W. Molec. gen. Genet. 188, 418–424 (1982).
Hille, J., Van Kan, J. & Schilperoort, R. A. J. Bact. 158, 754–756 (1984).
Hoekema, A., Hirsch, P. R., Hooykaas, P. J. J. & Schilperoort, R. A. Nature 303, 179–180 (1983).
De Framond, A. J., Barton, K. A. & Chilton, M.-D. Bio/Technology 1, 262–269 (1983).
Hooykaas, P. J. J., Hofker, M., Den Dulk-Ras, H. & Schilperoort, R. A. Plasmid 11, 195–205 (1984).
Klee, H. J., Gordon, M. P. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 150, 327–331 (1982).
Klee, H. J., White, F. F., Iyer, V. N., Gordon, M. P. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 153, 878–883 (1983).
Villarroel, R. et al. Molec. gen. Genet. 189, 390–399 (1983).
Lugtenberg, B. & Van Alphen, L. Biochim. biophys. Acta 737, 51–115 (1983).
Kloepper, J. W., Leong, J., Teintze, M. & Schroth, M. N. Nature 286, 885–886 (1980).
Moores, J. C., Magazin, M., Ditta, G. S. & Leong, J. J. Bact. 157 53–58.
Van Brussel, A. A. N., Tak, T., Wetselaar, A., Pees, E. & Wijffelman, C. A. Pl. Sci. Lett. 27, 317–325.
Miller, J. H. Experiments in Molecular Genetics (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, 1972).
Hooykaas, P. J. J., Roobol, C. & Schilperoort, R. A. J. gen. Microbiol. 110, 99–109 (1979).
Casadaban, M. J. & Cohen, S. N. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 4530–4533 (1979).
Casadaban, M. J. & Cohen, S. N. J. molec. Biol. 138, 179–207 (1980).
McKenney, K. et al. in Gene Amplification and Analysis Vol. 2 (eds Chirkjian, J. G. & Papas, T. S.) 383–415 (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Okker, R., Spaink, H., Hille, J. et al. Plant-inducible virulence promoter of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid. Nature 312, 564–566 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/312564a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/312564a0
This article is cited by
-
Specificity of Agrobacterium-mediated delivery of maize streak virus DNA to members of the Gramineae
Plant Molecular Biology (1989)
-
Molecular characterization of the virulence gene virA of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens octopine Ti plasmid
Plant Molecular Biology (1988)
-
Molecular characterization of the virulence gene virA of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens octopine Ti plasmid
Plant Molecular Biology (1987)
-
Absence in monocotyledonous plants of the diffusible plant factors inducing T-DNA circularization and vir gene expression in Agrobacterium
Molecular and General Genetics MGG (1987)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.