title: Mobilization of T-DNA from Agrobacterium to plant cells involves a protein that binds single-stranded DNA.
abstract: Crude protein extracts of induced and uninduced octopine wild-type strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, as well as several mutants of the virulence loci virA, -B, -G, -C, -D, and -E, were probed with single- and double-stranded synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides of different sequence and length in an electrophoretic retardation assay. Four complexes involving sequence-nonspecific, single-stranded-DNA-binding proteins were recognized. One inducible complex is determined by the virE locus, two Ti-plasmid-dependent complexes are constitutively expressed, and a fourth one is controlled by chromosomal genes. The protein-DNA complexes were characterized by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and by determination of the length of single-stranded DNA required for their formation. It is hypothesized that the single-stranded-DNA-binding proteins are involved in the production of T-DNA intermediates or have a carrier or protective function during T-DNA transfer.
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D010957:Plasmids; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides