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Appl Environ Microbiol, July 1998, p. 2341-2345, Vol. 64, No. 7
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Root Colonization by Agrobacterium tumefaciens Is Reduced in cel, attB, attD, and attR Mutants

Ann G. Matthysse* and Susan McMahan

Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3280

Received 26 June 1997/Accepted 11 April 1998

Root colonization by Agrobacterium tumefaciens was measured by using tomato and Arabidopsis thaliana roots dipped in a bacterial suspension and planted in soil. Wild-type bacteria showed extensive growth on tomato roots; the number of bacteria increased from 103 bacteria/cm of root length at the time of inoculation to more than 107 bacteria/cm after 10 days. The numbers of cellulose-minus and nonattaching attB, attD, and attR mutant bacteria were less than 1/10,000th the number of wild-type bacteria recovered from tomato roots. On roots of A. thaliana ecotype Landsberg erecta, the numbers of wild-type bacteria increased from about 30 to 8,000 bacteria/cm of root length after 8 days. The numbers of cellulose-minus and nonattaching mutant bacteria were 1/100th to 1/10th the number of wild-type bacteria recovered after 8 days. The attachment of A. tumefaciens to cut A. thaliana roots incubated in 0.4% sucrose and observed with a light microscope was also reduced with cel and att mutants. These results suggest that cellulose synthesis and attachment genes play a role in the ability of the bacteria to colonize roots, as well as in bacterial pathogenesis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3280. Phone: (919) 962-6941. Fax: (919) 962-1625. E-mail: matthysse{at}unc.edu.

Appl Environ Microbiol, July 1998, p. 2341-2345, Vol. 64, No. 7
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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