Abstract
A plant hormone ethylene inhibits Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer, but the inhibitory effect has not been clear. The gene transfer mechanism includes the bacterial growth, induction of virulence gene expression in the bacteria, transfer of T-DNA into the plant cells, and finally integration of the T-DNA into the host genome. Since ethylene inhibits T-DNA transfer, plant ethylene response would affect one or more of these steps during the transfer process. We investigated an effect of the plant ethylene response on the induction of virulence gene expression in A. tumefaciens. The host plants produce some phenolic compounds that are required for induction of virulence gene expression in the bacteria. It seems that plant produced virulent gene inducing compounds were regulated by ethylene response.
