Identification of a new virulence locus in Agrobacterium tumefaciens that affects polysaccharide composition and plant cell attachment.

We have identified a new virulence locus in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Strains carrying Tn5 inserts at this locus could not incite tumors on Kalanchoe daigremontiana, Nicotiana rustica, tobacco, or sunflower and had severely attenuated virulence on carrot disks. We termed the locus pscA, because the mutants that defined the locus were initially isolated as having an altered polysaccharide composition; they were nonfluorescent on media containing Leucophor or Calcofluor, indicating a defect in the production of cellulose fibrils. Further analysis showed that the pscA mutants produced little, if any, of the four species of exopolysaccharide synthesized by the wild-type strain. DNA hybridization analysis and genetic complementation experiments indicated that the pscA locus is not encoded by the Ti plasmid and that it is distinct from the previously described chromosomal virulence loci chvA and chvB. However, like chvA and chvB mutants, the inability of the pscA mutants to form tumors is apparently due to a defect in plant cell attachment. Whereas we could demonstrate binding of the wild-type strain to tobacco suspension cells, attachment of the pscA mutants was drastically reduced or completely absent.