Abstract
LARGE plasmids, called Ti-plasmids1, are responsible for the transformation of dicotyledonous plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens2–5. A comparison of Ti-plasmids derived from different Agrobacterium strains6–10 revealed two major groups of homology. These correlate with the Ti-plasmid-determined properties of octopine or nopaline utilisation by Ti-plasmid-harbouring agrobacteria2,5,11–13, and octopine or nopaline synthesis by Ti-plasmid-transformed plant cells11,13. It was originally suggested that octopine or nopaline synthesis in crown-gall tissues might be mediated by bacterial genes, transferred to the transformed plant cells14; this can now be restated as being mediated by Ti-plasmid genes, and is supported both by genetic data15 and by hybridisation studies16. The capacity to determine both the catabolism and the synthesis of one or the other of these or similar compounds seems to be the dominant evolutionary significance of the Ti-plasmids and one can therefore speak of ‘octopine’- and ‘nopaline’- Ti-plasmids. In view of the fact that the different types of Ti-plasmids only have a limited degree of DNA sequence homology6, but produce transformed plant cells with similar phenotypes, it was conceivable that at least part of the common DNA sequences would be directly and/or indirectly involved in oncogenicity. We report here the finding of a specific DNA segment which is highly conserved among several different Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti-plasmids. We also give genetic evidence that this region is essential for oncogenicity and overlaps with the Ti-plasmid DNA found in transformed plant cells.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Zaenen, I., Van Larebeke, N., Teuchy, H., Van Montagu, M. & Schell, J. J. molec. Biol. 86, 109–127 (1974).
Van Larebeke, N. et al. Nature 252, 169–170 (1974).
Schell, J. in Genetic Manipulation with Plant Material Vol. 3 (ed. Ledoux, L.) (NATO Advanced Study Institute Series, 163–181, 1975).
Van Larebeke, N. et al. Nature 255, 742–743 (1975).
Watson, B., Currier, T. C., Gordon, M. P., Chilton, M.-D. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 123, 255–264 (1975).
Currier, T. C. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 126, 157–165 (1976).
Depicker, A., Van Montagu, M. & Schell, J. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 5, 931 (1977).
Engler, G., Van Montagu, M., Zaenen, I. & Schell, J. Biochem. Soc. Trans. 5, 930 (1977).
Sciaky, D., Montoya, A. L. & Chilton, M. D. Plasmid, 1, 238–253 (1978).
Schell, J. et al. in Nucleic Acids and Protein Synthesis in Plants (eds Bogorad, L. & Weil, J. H.) 329–342 (Plenum, New York, 1976).
Bomhoff, G. et al., Molec. gen. Genet. 145, 171–181 (1976).
Montoya, A. L., Chilton, M. D., Gordon, M. P., Sciaky, D. & Nester, E. W. J. Bact. 129, 101–107 (1977).
Van Larebeke, N. et al., Molec. gen. Genet. 152, 119–124 (1977).
Petit, A., Delhaye, S., Tempé, J. & Morel, G. Physiol. Vég. 8, 205–213 (1970).
Schell, J. & Van Montagu, M. Brookhaven Symp. Biol. 29, 36–49 (1977).
Chilton, M. D. et al. Cell 11, 263–271 (1977).
Southern, E. J. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–518 (1975).
Maniatis, T., Jeffrey, A. & Kleid, D. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 1184–1188 (1975).
Holsters, M. et al. Plasmid (in the press).
Mc. Donnell, M. W., Simon, M. N. & Studier, F. W. J. molec. Biol. 110, 119–146 (1977).
Sharp, P. A., Sugden, B. & Sambrook, J. Biochemistry 12, 3055–3063 (1973).
Denhardt, D. T. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 23, 641–646 (1966).
Bolivar, F. et al. in DNA Insertion Elements, Plasmids and Episomes 684–685 (S.S.H. Laboratory, 1977).
Chilton, M. D., Drummond, M. H., Merlo, D. J. & Sciaky, D. Nature 275, 147–151 (1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DEPICKER, A., MONTAGU, M. & SCHELL, J. Homologous DNA sequences in different Ti-plasmids are essential for oncogenicity. Nature 275, 150–153 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275150a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/275150a0
This article is cited by
-
Functional analysis of a complex oncogene arrangement in biotype III Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains
Plant Molecular Biology (1990)
-
Agrobacterium tumefaciens 6bgenes are strain-specific and affect the activity of auxin as well as cytokinin genes
Molecular and General Genetics MGG (1989)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.