Transfer of T-DNA and Vir proteins to plant cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens induces expression of host genes involved in mediating transformation and suppresses host defense gene expression.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a plant pathogen that incites crown gall tumors by transferring to and expressing a portion of a resident plasmid in plant cells. Currently, little is known about the host response to Agrobacterium infection. Using suppressive subtractive hybridization and DNA macroarrays, we identified numerous plant genes that are differentially expressed during early stages of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Expression profiling indicates that Agrobacterium infection induces plant genes necessary for the transformation process while simultaneously repressing host defense response genes, thus indicating successful utilization of existing host cellular machinery for genetic transformation purposes. A comparison of plant responses to different strains of Agrobacterium indicates that transfer of both T-DNA and Vir proteins modulates the expression of host genes during the transformation process.
Veena
Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1392, USA.
Jiang
Hongmei
H
Doerge
R W
RW
Gelvin
Stanton B
SB
D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics*; D000465:Algorithms; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*; D037521:Virulence Factors
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C036483:T-DNA; D037521:Virulence Factors