The Agrobacterium Tumefaciens C58 Genome

Agrobacterium is a bacterial plant pathogen capable of transferring a specific fragment of DNA, called the T-DNA, into plants and other organisms. Once in a eukaryotic cell, the T-DNA moves to the nucleus and integrates into the genome at an essentially random location. T-DNA integration generally leads to tumor formation in the plant host, and Agrobacterium’s ability to transfer DNA has been adapted as an important tool for mutagenesis and genetic engineering of plants and fungi. Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 was the first species of Agrobacterium to have a fully-sequenced genome, and the sequence data are catalyzing expansion of A. tumefaciens research beyond its traditional focus on plant pathogenesis and T-DNA transfer. This chapter reviews many of the findings of the original genome publications and discusses many new insights derived from the availability of the genome sequence.