This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Alt-Morbe, J.
Right arrow Articles by Winans, S. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Alt-Morbe, J.
Right arrow Articles by Winans, S. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Bacteriol., 07 1996, 4248-4257, Vol 178, No. 14
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

The conjugal transfer system of Agrobacterium tumefaciens octopine-type Ti plasmids is closely related to the transfer system of an IncP plasmid and distantly related to Ti plasmid vir genes

J Alt-Morbe, JL Stryker, C Fuqua, PL Li, SK Farrand and SC Winans
Institut fur Biologie III, Universitat Freiburg, Germany.

We have determined the DNA sequences of two unlinked regions of octopine-type Ti plasmids that contain genes required for conjugal transfer. Both regions previously were shown to contain sequences that hybridize with tra genes of the nopaline-type Ti plasmid pTiC58. One gene cluster (designated tra) contains a functional oriT site and is probably required for conjugal DNA processing, while the other gene cluster (designated trb) probably directs the synthesis of a conjugal pilus and mating pore. Most predicted Tra and Trb proteins show relatively strong sequence similarity (30 to 50% identity) to the Tra and Trb proteins of the broad-host-range IncP plasmid RP4 and show significantly weaker sequence similarity to Vir proteins found elsewhere on the Ti plasmid. An exception is found in the Ti plasmid TraA protein, which is predicted to be a bifunctional nickase-helicase that has no counterpart in IncP plasmids or among Vir proteins but has homologs in at least six other self-transmissible and mobilizable plasmids. We conclude that this Ti plasmid tra system evolved by acquiring genes from two or three different sources. A similar analysis of the Ti plasmid vir region indicates that it also evolved by appropriating genes from at least two conjugal transfer systems. The widely studied plasmid pTiA6NC previously was found to be nonconjugal and to have a 12.65-kb deletion of DNA relative to other octopine-type Ti plasmids. We show that this deletion removes the promoter-distal gene of the trb region and probably accounts for the inability of this plasmid to conjugate.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cho, H., Pinto, U. M., Winans, S. C. (2009). Transsexuality in the Rhizosphere: Quorum Sensing Reversibly Converts Agrobacterium tumefaciens from Phenotypically Female to Male. J. Bacteriol. 191: 3375-3383 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Perez-Mendoza, D., Lucas, M., Munoz, S., Herrera-Cervera, J. A., Olivares, J., de la Cruz, F., Sanjuan, J. (2006). The Relaxase of the Rhizobium etli Symbiotic Plasmid Shows nic Site cis-Acting Preference. J. Bacteriol. 188: 7488-7499 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, J., Julin, D. A. (2004). DNA Helicase Activity of the RecD Protein from Deinococcus radiodurans. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 52024-52032 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gonzalez, J. E., Marketon, M. M. (2003). Quorum Sensing in Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobia. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 67: 574-592 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Schmidt-Eisenlohr, H., Baron, C. (2003). The Competitiveness of Pseudomonas chlororaphis Carrying pJP4 Is Reduced in the Arabidopsis thaliana Rhizosphere. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1827-1831 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lawley, T. D., Gilmour, M. W., Gunton, J. E., Tracz, D. M., Taylor, D. E. (2003). Functional and Mutational Analysis of Conjugative Transfer Region 2 (Tra2) from the IncHI1 Plasmid R27. J. Bacteriol. 185: 581-591 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Chen, L., Chen, Y., Wood, D. W., Nester, E. W. (2002). A New Type IV Secretion System Promotes Conjugal Transfer in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. J. Bacteriol. 184: 4838-4845 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wilkinson, A., Danino, V., Wisniewski-Dye, F., Lithgow, J. K., Downie, J. A. (2002). N-Acyl-Homoserine Lactone Inhibition of Rhizobial Growth Is Mediated by Two Quorum-Sensing Genes That Regulate Plasmid Transfer. J. Bacteriol. 184: 4510-4519 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lawley, T. D., Gilmour, M. W., Gunton, J. E., Standeven, L. J., Taylor, D. E. (2002). Functional and Mutational Analysis of Conjugative Transfer Region 1 (Tra1) from the IncHI1 Plasmid R27. J. Bacteriol. 184: 2173-2180 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, H.-B., Wang, L.-H., Zhang, L.-H. (2002). Genetic control of quorum-sensing signal turnover in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 4638-4643 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhang, H.-B., Wang, L.-H., Zhang, L.-H. (2002). Genetic control of quorum-sensing signal turnover in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 10.1073/pnas.0220566099v1 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • de Kievit, T. R., Iglewski, B. H. (2000). Bacterial Quorum Sensing in Pathogenic Relationships. Infect. Immun. 68: 4839-4849 [Full Text]  
  • Zhu, J., Oger, P. M., Schrammeijer, B., Hooykaas, P. J. J., Farrand, S. K., Winans, S. C. (2000). The Bases of Crown Gall Tumorigenesis. J. Bacteriol. 182: 3885-3895 [Full Text]  
  • Hamilton, C. M., Lee, H., Li, P.-L., Cook, D. M., Piper, K. R., von Bodman, S. B., Lanka, E., Ream, W., Farrand, S. K. (2000). TraG from RP4 and TraG and VirD4 from Ti Plasmids Confer Relaxosome Specificity to the Conjugal Transfer System of pTiC58. J. Bacteriol. 182: 1541-1548 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Grahn, A. M., Haase, J., Bamford, D. H., Lanka, E. (2000). Components of the RP4 Conjugative Transfer Apparatus Form an Envelope Structure Bridging Inner and Outer Membranes of Donor Cells: Implications for Related Macromolecule Transport Systems. J. Bacteriol. 182: 1564-1574 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kalogeraki, V. S., Zhu, J., Stryker, J. L., Winans, S. C. (2000). The Right End of the vir Region of an Octopine-Type Ti Plasmid Contains Four New Members of the vir Regulon That Are Not Essential for Pathogenesis. J. Bacteriol. 182: 1774-1778 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, P.-L., Farrand, S. K. (2000). The Replicator of the Nopaline-Type Ti Plasmid pTiC58 Is a Member of the repABC Family and Is Influenced by the TraR-Dependent Quorum-Sensing Regulatory System. J. Bacteriol. 182: 179-188 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, P.-L., Hwang, I., Miyagi, H., True, H., Farrand, S. K. (1999). Essential Components of the Ti Plasmid trb System, a Type IV Macromolecular Transporter. J. Bacteriol. 181: 5033-5041 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eisenbrandt, R., Kalkum, M., Lai, E.-M., Lurz, R., Kado, C. I., Lanka, E. (1999). Conjugative Pili of IncP Plasmids, and the Ti Plasmid T Pilus Are Composed of Cyclic Subunits. J. Biol. Chem. 274: 22548-22555 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Piper, K. R., Farrand, S. K. (1999). Conjugal Transfer but Not Quorum-Dependent tra Gene Induction of pTiC58 Requires a Solid Surface. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 2798-2801 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, P.-L., Everhart, D. M., Farrand, S. K. (1998). Genetic and Sequence Analysis of the pTiC58 trb Locus, Encoding a Mating-Pair Formation System Related to Members of the Type IV Secretion Family. J. Bacteriol. 180: 6164-6172 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bohne, J., Yim, A., Binns, A. N. (1998). The Ti plasmid increases the efficiency of Agrobacterium tumefaciens as a recipient in virB-mediated conjugal transfer of an IncQ plasmid. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 7057-7062 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Segal, G., Purcell, M., Shuman, H. A. (1998). Host cell killing and bacterial conjugation require overlapping sets of genes within a 22-kb region of the Legionella pneumophila genome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 1669-1674 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vogel, J. P., Andrews, H. L., Wong, S. K., Isberg, R. R. (1998). Conjugative Transfer by the Virulence System of Legionella pneumophila. Science 279: 873-876 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»