title: Role of the overdrive sequence in T-DNA border cleavage in Agrobacterium.
abstract: The T-DNA of the Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium is flanked by 25-base-pair imperfect direct repeats that are required in cis for transfer to the genome of the plant host. Another sequence, designated overdrive, is located adjacent to the right-border repeats and functions in cis to enhance tumor formation. We have examined the effect of the overdrive sequence on the early steps in T-DNA processing. We report here that overdrive greatly enhances cleavage by the site-specific endonuclease in Agrobacterium, perhaps by directing the endonuclease to the adjacent border sequences. We also show by a gel mobility-shift assay that overdrive affinity-purified proteins from acetosyringone-induced Agrobacterium cells interact with T-DNA border and overdrive sequences. Further, we show that in vivo the virC operon enhances cleavage at the T-DNA borders, most likely by interaction between the VirC1 protein and the overdrive sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yanofsky
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nester
mesh_terms: D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D009876:Operon; D010957:Plasmids; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial