Title: T-DNA transfer from Agrobacterium to the plant cell nucleus
Abstract: The T-DNA (transferred DNA) of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is the only non-viral nucleic acid known to genetically transform a higher eukaryotic cell in nature. The bacterium has to produce plant-infectious DNA which then has to penetrate the bacterial and plant membranes, find the plant cell nucleus, and finally has to integrate into the chromosomal DNA. An adaptation of the bacterium to the eukaryotic condition of the recipient must have been the nuclear targeting of the T-DNA. Here we address the question of how the T-DNA is directed to the plant nucleus. Virulence protein D2, covalently attached to T-DNA in the bacterium, is a prime candidate for the function of nuclear targeting. We show that VirD2 protein contains two nuclear localization signals (NLS) which are able to target an otherwise cytoplasmatically localized β-galactosidase protein to the nuclei of both yeast and plant cells. Experiments employing a transient assay for T-DNA transfer reveal that deletion of the C-terminal NLS of VirD2 drastically reduces (but does not abolish) the efficiency of T-DNA transfer, whereas mutations in the N-terminal NLS coding sequence seem to have no effect on T-DNA transfer. This result complements the in vitro nuclear localization data.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 2
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