Agrobacterium tumefaciens Homepage
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a ubiquitous soil borne pathogen responsible
for Crown Gall disease (right), affecting many higher species of plant. The pathogen
is a problem for agriculture all over the world. DNA transfer from
Agrobacterium tumefaciens to eukaryotic cells is the only known example
of interkingdom DNA transfer (Dumaset al., (2001). It is therefore unsuprising
that Agrobacterium has evolved its own unique and specialised system to
accomplish this task, which is of great interest to plant scientists. The
information contained in this website will explore the history and all that we
know about this remarkable micro-organism.
This website aims to give an insight into the bacterium, with information
about the research that has been carried out in the past, and how the knowledge
we have gained can be applied to help alleviate problems facing food production
around the world. Other potential uses of the technology are also reviewed, such as
using our knowledge of Agrobacterium to produce a biocontrol agent and
producing effective transformation vectors such as the pGreen binary vector. This website
also includes a comprehensive list of references for anyone wishing to read further
into any aspect of the research surrounding the bacterium.