Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a Gram negative soil bacteria, which has natural genetic engineering capability by which it integrates its plasmid genes into plant genome. This is a natural process and we are exploiting bacteria’s ability to transfer our gene of interest into the plants.
Why bacterium enter into such association?
Agrobacterium tumefaciens will transfer genes(T-DNA region of Ti plasmid) into the plant that produces its food or nutrient called opines (opines are not needed for plants). Apart from that, it also integrates genes for cell division and proliferation leading to crown gall disease. So that more number of cells result in more production of opines.
About Agrobacterium?
Agrobacterium is a Gram negative, rod shaped soil bacterium that belongs to the family Rhizhobeaceae.
Major species include:
- Agrobacterium tumefaciens: that causes ‘crown gall disease’ in wounded dicot plants.
- Agrobacterium rhizhogenes: that induces hairy root disease in plants.
- Agrobacterium radiobacter: an avirulent strain.
Reason for crown gall and hairy root disease?
Smith and Townsend (1907) found out Agrobacterium tumefaciens as the causative agent of crown gall disease. Agrobacterium tumefaciens has a 200kb plasmid called as Ti plasmid (tumor inducing plasmid) which is responsible for crown gall disease.
Agrobacterium rhizhogenes has a plasmid called as Ri plasmid( root hair inducing plasmid) which is responsible for hairy root disease.
- Organization of Ti plasmid
- Vir region or virulence region of Ti plasmid
- Steps involved in Agrobacterium Mediated Gene Transfer
- Principle behind Agrobacterium mediated gene tranfer
- Ti plasmid based vectors-cointegrate and binary vectors
- Agrobacterium rhizhogenes and Ri plasmid
- Video-Agrobacterium tumefaciens Mediated Gene Transfer
Tags:
Agrobacterium tumefacien
Crown gall disease
hairy root disease
soil bacterium
T-DNA
Ti plasmid