title: Complete nucleotide sequence of a plant tumor-inducing Ti plasmid.
abstract: Crown gall tumor disease in dicot plants is caused by Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring a giant tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid. Here, for the first time among agrobacterial plasmids, the nucleotide sequence of a typical nopaline-type Ti plasmid (pTi-SAKURA) was determined completely. In total, 195 open reading frames (ORFs) were estimated in the 206479 bp long sequence. 20 genes for conjugation, three for replication, 22 for pathogenesis and 37 for genetic colonization of host plants were found within two-thirds of the plasmid. These genes formed seven functional gene clusters with narrow inter-cluster spaces. In the remaining one-third of the plasmid, novel genes including homologs of mutT, Rhizobium nodQ and Sphingomonas ligE genes were found, which are likely to be responsible for the broad host range. Restriction fragment length variation indicates extreme plasticity of the part required for conjugational gene transfer and the above-mentioned one-third of the plasmid, even among closely related Ti plasmids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uraji
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010941:Plant Tumors / Q000382:microbiology*; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial