title: The ongoing saga of Agrobacterium-host interactions.
abstract: Infection of plant cells by Agrobacterium leads to activation of specific mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). In a recent paper, Djamei et al. (2007) showed that MAPK-mediated phosphorylation of VirE2-interacting protein 1 (VIP1) is required for its translocation into the host-cell nucleus and for activation of a pathogenesis-related gene, and that Agrobacterium uses the phosphorylated VIP1 to deliver its transfer-DNA molecule into the host cell. These findings join a long line of evidence showing how this clever bacterium has developed ways of using and abusing host biological systems for its own needs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Mery
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dafny-Yelin
authors.forename: Avner
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Tzvi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tzfira
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010766:Phosphorylation; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D007473:Ion Channels; C051583:virE2 protein, Agrobacterium; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases