Will you let me use your nucleus? How Agrobacterium gets its T-DNA expressed in the host plant cell.
Lacroix, Benoit; Li, Jianxiong; Tzfira, Tzvi; Citovsky, Vitaly
[Review]
Canadian Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology.
84(3-4):333-345, March/April 2006.
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Agrobacterium is the only known bacterium capable of natural DNA transfer into a eukaryotic host. The genes transferred to host plants are contained on a T-DNA (transferred DNA) molecule, the transfer of which begins with its translocation, along with several effector proteins, from the bacterial cell to the host-cell cytoplasm. In the host cytoplasm, the T-complex is formed from a single-stranded copy of the T-DNA (T-strand) associated with several bacterial and host proteins and it is imported into the host nucleus via interactions with the host nuclear import machinery. Once inside the nucleus, the T-complex is most likely directed to the host genome by associating with histones. Finally, the chromatin-associated T-complex is uncoated from its escorting proteins prior to the conversion of the T-strand to a double-stranded form and its integration into the host genome.
(C)2006 National Research Council Canada