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PMID: 15616576 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

The VirE3 protein of Agrobacterium mimics a host cell function required for plant genetic transformation.

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 24 ·No. 2 ·2005-01-26 ·Pages 428-37

Lacroix B, Vaidya M, Tzfira T, Citovsky V

Abstract

To genetically transform plants, Agrobacterium exports its transferred DNA (T-DNA) and several virulence (Vir) proteins into the host cell. Among these proteins, VirE3 is the only one whose biological function is completely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that VirE3 is transferred from Agrobacterium to the plant cell and then imported into its nucleus via the karyopherin alpha-dependent pathway. In addition to binding plant karyopherin alpha, VirE3 interacts with VirE2, a major bacterial protein that directly associates with the T-DNA and facilitates its nuclear import. The VirE2 nuclear import in turn is mediated by a plant protein, VIP1. Our data indicate that VirE3 can mimic this VIP1 function, acting as an 'adapter' molecule between VirE2 and karyopherin alpha and 'piggy-backing' VirE2 into the host cell nucleus. As VIP1 is not an abundant protein, representing one of the limiting factors for transformation, Agrobacterium may have evolved to produce and export to the host cells its own virulence protein that at least partially complements the cellular VIP1 function necessary for the T-DNA nuclear import and subsequent expression within the infected cell.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Proteins/metabolism,physiology Base Sequence Cell Nucleus/metabolism DNA Primers Molecular Sequence Data Mutagenesis Plants/genetics Protein Binding Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction Rhizobium/physiology Transformation, Genetic/physiology alpha Karyopherins/metabolism
Chemicals
Bacterial Proteins DNA Primers alpha Karyopherins
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Lacroix Benoît
Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215, USA.
Vaidya Manjusha
Tzfira Tzvi
Citovsky Vitaly
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
DOI
10.1038/sj.emboj.7600524
Published
2005-01-26
Epub
2004-00-23
Pages
428-37
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC545813
Subset
IM
Databases
GENBANK
X63603
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1038/sj.emboj.7600524 PMC Full Text View journal details
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