Agrobacteria are an important tool in plant genetic engineering
Agrobacteria are soil-dwelling Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria that are phytopathogens. Through chemotaxis, they enter damaged parts of plants and cause tumor-like diseases. These bacteria are capable of horizontal DNA transfer and also carry a number of specific plasmids that enable their pathogenicity toward plants; moreover, during pathogenesis they can integrate fragments of their DNA into the DNA of the host cell. All of this makes agrobacteria a convenient tool for plant transgenesis. Agrobacteria contain a Ti plasmid (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Schematic structure of the Agrobacterium Ti plasmid [doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-813288-3.00023-9].
This plasmid contains a T-DNA region that can integrate into the plant genome and, by activating phytohormone synthesis, trigger the formation of a plant tumor; from a genetic engineering perspective, this results in the generation of a transgenic plant.
The Ti plasmid is more than 200 thousand base pairs in size. It contains four main regions: T-DNA, the virulence region, the opine catabolism region, and the origin of replication. The T-DNA region is flanked at both ends by repeat sequences. Integration of T-DNA into the genome is mediated by proteins encoded in the virulence region, via the formation of single-stranded DNA.
A major advantage of agrobacteria as a genetic engineering tool is their broad host range: monocot and dicot angiosperms, gymnosperms, and fungi, including yeasts, ascomycetes, and basidiomycetes.
To date, agrobacteria have been used to generate a large number of genetically modified plant varieties: soybean, maize, cotton, rapeseed, sugar beet, pumpkin, tomatoes, tobacco, carnation, potato, flax, papaya, rice, etc.
DUOX BIOTECHNOLOGIES offers a full range of genetic engineering services using Agrobacterium plasmids and agrobacteria. To order the assembly of such constructs, please contact our specialists.
The Ti plasmid is more than 200 thousand base pairs in size. It contains four main regions: T-DNA, the virulence region, the opine catabolism region, and the origin of replication. The T-DNA region is flanked at both ends by repeat sequences. Integration of T-DNA into the genome is mediated by proteins encoded in the virulence region, via the formation of single-stranded DNA.
A major advantage of agrobacteria as a genetic engineering tool is their broad host range: monocot and dicot angiosperms, gymnosperms, and fungi, including yeasts, ascomycetes, and basidiomycetes.
To date, agrobacteria have been used to generate a large number of genetically modified plant varieties: soybean, maize, cotton, rapeseed, sugar beet, pumpkin, tomatoes, tobacco, carnation, potato, flax, papaya, rice, etc.
DUOX BIOTECHNOLOGIES offers a full range of genetic engineering services using Agrobacterium plasmids and agrobacteria. To order the assembly of such constructs, please contact our specialists.