Thermosensitive step associated with transfer of the Ti plasmid during conjugation: Possible relation to transformation in crown gall.
It is reported here that transfer by means of a conjugative process of an oncogenic plasmid from a virulent strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to a strain of that organism that had been cured of the plasmid is thermosensitive. Since the thermosensitive step found in the conjugative process appears similar in every respect to a thermosensitive step that is involved in the transformation of a normal cell to a tumor cell in the crown gall disease of plants, it is suggested that the observed results may reflect the existence of a thermosensitive step that is common to these two processes.
Génétique et Amélioration des Plantes, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78000 Versailles, France.
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Tempé
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Petit
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Holsters
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Montagu
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Schell