The Agrobacterium tumefaciens virulence D2 protein is responsible for precise integration of T-DNA into the plant genome.
The VirD2 protein of Agrobacterium tumefaciens was shown to pilot T-DNA during its transfer to the plant cell nucleus. We analyze here its participation in the integration of T-DNA by using a virD2 mutant. This mutation reduces the efficiency of T-DNA transfer, but the efficiency of integration of T-DNA per se is unaffected. Southern and sequence analyses of integration events obtained with the mutated VirD2 protein revealed an aberrant pattern of integration. These results indicate that the wild-type VirD2 protein participates in ligation of the 5'-end of the T-strand to plant DNA and that this ligation step is not rate limiting for T-DNA integration.
Tinland
B
B
Friedrich Miescher-Institut, Basel, Switzerland.
Schoumacher
F
F
Gloeckler
V
V
Bravo-Angel
A M
AM
Hohn
B
B
D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics*; D037521:Virulence Factors
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C036483:T-DNA; D037521:Virulence Factors