Crown Gall Development Stimulated by Wound Washing

A number of experiments on the effect of wound washing on the development of crown gall were made varying the following factors: Host species; bacterial strain; non-washing versus washing for different periods; sterile versus inoculated wound; time of inoculation. Washing did not have a recognizable effect on the healing of sterile wounds. Neither did it seem to overcome incompatibility between host and bacterial strain. Washing promoted tumor growth significantly under the following conditions: Vicia faba inoculated with T37 20 hours after washing for 1 hour; Helianthus annuus inoculated with B6 immediately after washing for 2 hours.     

DNA Synthesis, Mitosis and Ploidy of Dividing Cells in Early Crown Gall

DNA synthesis, mitosis and ploidy of dividing cells were studied during 30 h after wounding around wounds inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, around sterile wounds and in control stems of Vicia faba. DNA synthesis was examined by counting nuclei labelled with ³H-thymidine in slides in which mitoses had been counted and analyzed before autoradiography. The main results were that around inoculated wounds, DNA synthesis and the number of mitoses showed a peak between 12 and 22.5 h. Both types of wounding induced mitoses, many of them polyploid (DNA content higher than 4C), both in the pith and the cortex, whereas in the control stems only diploid mitoses, mostly in the stelar area, were seen. The first polyploid (8C) mitoses around the inoculated wounds took place at 12 h and at 15.5 h 32C mitoses were seen; around the sterile wounds the first 8C divisions occurred at 26 h. The frequency of polyploid mitoses and their degree of ploidy continued to be considerably higher around the crown gall than around the control wounds. When a cell with a higher than 4C content is induced to divide, the 12 chromosomes, as a rule, consist of four, eight, 16 or 32 chromatids, instead of the normal two. The early division of highly polyploid cells around the inoculated wounds is obviously caused by growth factors which are known to be produced by the bacteria. It appears possible that this ability to synthesize excessive amounts of growth factors is subsequently transferred to the host cells through bacterial DNA.     

蜜环菌诱导子对丹参冠瘿组织积累丹参酮的影响

Using a computer software `uniform design, regression analysis and optimization system' (UROS), the effects of Armillaria mellea Karst elicitor, with respect to its concentration, time of supplement and harvest time, on the accumulation of tanshinones in the crown gall cultures of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge in 67-V liquid medium were studied. The result showed that the maximum tanshinone yield was 147 mg/L (P＜0.05）, 62 mg/L (P＜0.05）, 94 mg/L (P＜0.05） in the liquid medium and the cultures 29 day after addition of A. mellea (119 mL/L) at day 0, in the medium 26 day after the addition of 113 mL/L of A. mellea, 28 day after addition of 87 mL/L of A. mellea, respectively. The results confirmed that the computer software UROS was a good tool in the multi-factor study.     

蜜环菌诱导子对丹参冠瘿组织积累丹参酮的影响

以 6 7_V液体培养基为基本培养基 ,利用计算机软件“均匀设计、回归分析及优化系统” ,研究了蜜环菌(ArmillariamelleaKarst)诱导子浓度、诱导子的加入时间与处理的收获时间对丹参 (SalviamiltiorrhizaBunge)冠瘿组织积累丹参酮的影响。结果表明 ,蜜环菌诱导子浓度为 119mL/L、第 0天加入诱导子、第 2 9天收获培养物与培养液时可获得最高的丹参酮生产量 (147mg/L ,P <0 .0 5 ) ,蜜环菌诱导子浓度为 113mL/L、第 0天加入诱导子、第 2 6天收获培养液时可获得最高的丹参酮生产量 (6 2mg/L ,P <0 .0 5 ) ,蜜环菌诱导子浓度为 87mL/L、第 0天加入诱导子、第2 8天收获培养物时可获得最高的丹参酮生产量 (94mg/L ,P <0 .0 5 )。结果证实 ,计算机软件“均匀设计、回归分析及优化系统”对于观察值受多因素影响的研究非常有效和方便。     

Fungal Catabolism of Crown Gall Opines

This study was conducted to determine the capacities of 37 fungi to utilize various crown gall opines as their sole carbon and nitrogen source. One strain of Fusarium solani, two of Cylindrocarpon destructans, and six of Cylindrocarpon heteronema catabolized octopine, mannopine, octopinic acid, succinamopine, or a combination of these opines. One C. heteronema and one Fusarium dimerum strain grew only on succinamopine. None of the fungal isolates had the ability to grow on nopaline. The catabolism of opines by fungi was confirmed by the disappearance of the opine from the growth medium and by an increase in final mycelial dry weight with rising initial concentration of test substrate. This study thus shows that the catabolism of opines is not restricted to bacteria.     

Purification and Characterization of the Crown Gall-specific Enzyme, Octopine Synthase

A single enzyme catalyzes the synthesis of all four N²-(1-carboxyethyl)-amino acid derivatives found in a crown gall tumor tissue induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens (E. F. Sm. and Town.) Conn strain B6 on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). This enzyme, octopine synthase, has been purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation and chromatography on diethylaminoethylcellulose, blue agarose, and hydroxylapatite. The purified enzyme has all the N²-(1-carboxyethyl)-amino acid synthesizing activities found in crude preparations, and the relative activities with six amino acids remain nearly constant during purification. Although the maximum velocities (V) and Michaelis constants (K_m) differ, the ratio V/K_m is the same for all amino acid substrates. Thus an equimolar mixture of amino acids will give rise to an equimolar mixture of products. The kinetic properties of the enzyme are consistent with a partially ordered mechanism with arginine (NADPH, then arginine or pyruvate). Octopine synthase is a monomeric enzyme with a molecular weight of 39,000 by gel filtration and 38,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.     

Phosphorylation of Chromosomal Proteins Changes during the Development of Crown Gall Tumors

Crown gall tumors were initiated on potato tuber nurse tissueby Agrobacterium tumefaciens, strain C58. Tumorous protuberancesappeared some 5–8 days after infection and grew to knob-liketumors in 3–5 weeks, after which proliferation diminishedcontinuously and then ceased in old tumors. Synthesis of RNAincreased dramatically in growing tumors as did the activityof both chromatin-bound DNA-dependent RNA polymerases I andII. Chromatin-bound protein kinases accepting endogenous proteins,phosvitin, casein or histones were activated concomitantly,leading to higher phosphorylation rates of chromatin proteinsduring tumor development. With the transition of a normal, woundedcell into a transformed cell, the chromosomal protein patternchanged and then remained unchanged throughout tumor growthand senescence. In contrast, the phosphorylation pattern ofthese proteins was highly stage-specific. ¹Dedicated to our friend and colleague, late Professor Dr. R.K. Tripathi (Pant-nagar University, Nainital, India). (Received January 11, 1984; Accepted July 17, 1984)     

Inheritance of Resistance to Crown Gall in Pisum sativum

We screened a total of 1365 pea (Pisum sativum) lines for response to inoculation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, strain B6, and characterized resistance in one cultivar, Sweet Snap. Sweet Snap seedlings were highly resistant to tumorigenesis under most conditions. Resistance was overcome at inoculum concentrations of greater than 10⁹ bacteria per milliliter. At such high concentrations, very small tumors developed on Sweet Snap in response to four wide-host-range Agrobacterium strains, but tumors on other cultivars were two-to sevenfold larger than those that formed on Sweet Snap. The hypervirulent strain A281 induced larger tumors on Sweet Snap than did other Agrobacterium strains, but tumors on other genotypes were more than 100% larger than those on Sweet Snap. Physiological experiments suggested that tumorigenesis in Sweet Snap is not blocked in early stages of infection, and genetic analysis indicated that inheritance of resistance to crown gall is a quantitative trait. In addition to the observed resistance in Sweet Snap, three `supersusceptible' genotypes, which developed very large tumors, also were identified.     

Biological Control of Crown Gall: Seed Inoculation

S ummary : Peach seeds were inoculated with the nonpathogenic isolate 84 of Agrobacterium radiobacter var. radiobacter biotype 2 before sowing in natural soil heavily inoculated with the tumour inducing biotype 2 isolate 27 ( A. radiobacter var. tumefaciens ). Nonpathogens (presumably isolate 84) became predominant in the biotype 2 population on roots, on underground stems and in the soil round plant crowns. Significant ( P < 0·001) biological control of crown gall was achieved. Total gall incidence on plants grown from inoculated seed was 31% and from uninoculated seed 79%; the corresponding gall incidence on plant crowns was 12% and 76%. Dusting seed with Thiram (3·1 g/kg seed) did not significantly reduce disease incidence. Infection appeared to occur through undamaged lenticels indicating that wounding is not a necessary prerequisite for crown gall induction in peach.     

Metabolism and Biosynthesis of Cytokinins in Tobacco Crown Gall Cells

The metabolism of ribosylzeatin (RZ) was studied using tobaccocrown gall cells which produce RZ as one of the major endogenouscytokinins. When [8-¹⁴C]RZ was fed to the cells, it was convertedinto its phosphate (which was rigorously determined to be the5'-monophosphate), RZ-O-glucoside, inosine (or its phosphate),adenosine and adenosine-O-glucoside. When [8-¹⁴C]N⁶-(²-isopentenyl)adenosine(i⁶Ado), a probable precursor of RZ, was fed to the cells, itwas converted into (i⁶Ado)-O-glucoside, inosine (or its phosphate),adenosine, adenosine-O-glucoside and adenosine phosphate, butno incorporation of radioactivity into RZ was observed. Thepresent study led to the following conclusions: i) i⁶Ado isnot a precursor of RZ in the cells, ii) both deaminase and cytokininoxidase are involved in the catabolism of cytokinin, and iii)the metabolism of RZ is quite different from that of i⁶Ado. (Received December 24, 1985; Accepted April 1, 1986)     

Crown Gall Tumorigenesis in the Forage Legume Medicago sativa L.

Seedlings of the forage legume Medicago sativa formed crowngall tumours at low frequency following inoculation with octopineand nopaline strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens. There occurreda plant variety-bacterial strain specificity with respect totumorigenesis, some Medicago varieties failing to develop tumoursfollowing inoculation. In comparison, all bacterial strainstested incited tumours on stem explants of Nicotiana tabacumcv. Xanthi. DNA-DNA hybridization revealed a simple T-DNA patternin an uncloned and cloned Medicago tumour incited by the octopinestrain ACH5, protoplast cloning indicating the T-DNA copy numberto be about 5 copies per genome. Comparison of the T-DNA ofoctopine positive and octopine negative B6 tumours showed acorrelation between absence of part of the T-DNA and loss ofopine synthesis. Although non-transformed tissues of Medicagoreadily regenerate plants, this ability was suppressed in transformedtissues. ¹Present address: Centro Miglioramento Genetica Piante Foraggere,Facolt? di Agraria, Borgo XX Giugno, 06100 Perugia, Italy (Received September 14, 1983; Accepted February 7, 1984)     

丹参的冠瘿组织培养和丹参酮的产生

用根癌农杆菌感染丹参无菌苗获得冠瘿组织,除菌后的冠瘿组织在无激素的Ms培养基上生长良好。经高压纸电泳检查,冠瘿组织中含有冠痿碱,证实根癌农杆菌的Ti质粒转化成功。冠瘿组织的生长和丹参酮的积累与基本培养基有关,B5和Ms培养基有利于生长．月增殖倍数分别达到102倍和90倍,而67-V和WP培养基则有利于丹参酮的合成,在培养过程中丹参酮能分泌到培养液中。研究表明用冠瘿组织作为培养系统,生产药用植物有效成分具有良好的开发前景。     

Growth Profile of Crown Gall Cells of Tobacco in Suspension Culture

In order to obtain a basic information of plant cell suspension culture as a step toward the development of large scale culture, culture conditions of crown gall cells (auxin non-requiring cells) were investigated. Addition of yeast extract to culture medium was significantly effective for the growth and cell dispersion.

In experiments on the ability of the cultured cells to utilize sugars as the carbon source, it was observed that galactose, added to the culture medium, markedly inhibited the cell growth.

Pasteurization of the medium containing fructose as carbon source made it brownish by Maillard reaction and the medium apparently restrained the cell growth. However, the fructose medium sterilized by filtration was excellent for the cell growth as well as sucrose or glucose medium. In a jar fermentor, even the glucose medium became brownish by heat sterilization and the brown colored medium restrained the cell growth. Under optimum conditions, the doubling time was 1.1 day in exponential phase and 2.0 g of cell (dry weight) per 100 ml culture was obtained as the maximum yield.     

A Transformation-induced Alteration of Cellular Membranes in Crown Gall Tumor Cells

Phospholipids were utilized as a membrane marker to test for transformation-induced alteration of cellular membranes of cultured crown gall cells of Vinca rosea L. Fully transformed cells contained less than half the amount of phospholipids (7.8 micrograms lipid P per gram fresh weight) of normal V. rosea cells (21.4 micrograms lipid P per gram fresh weight). The normal V. rosea callus cells were not significantly different (P > 0.05) in phospholipid content from partially transformed crown gall cells (20.7 micrograms lipid P per gram fresh weight). Stimulation to rapid growth of the partially transformed cells by adding higher concentrations of inorganic salts and auxin did not significantly alter their phospholipid content (23.1 micrograms lipid P per gram fresh weight). These findings suggest that the transformation process is directly responsible for an alteration of the cellular membranes and that the membrane alteration cannot be attributed to secondary effects associated with the rapid growth of these neoplastic cells.     

Biological Control of Crown Gall: Seed and Root Inoculation

S ummary . Experiments on the control of crown gall by inoculating susceptible plants with a non-pathogenic strain of Agrobacterium radiobacter have continued. In all experiments, highly significant disease control was achieved. In one experiment, 42% of untreated plants growing in soil heavily infested with A. radiobacter var. tumefaciens died; inoculation of seed with the non-pathogenic strain reduced this to nil. Combined seed and root inoculation was more efficient than seed inoculation alone. In naturally infested soil, combined seed and root inoculation at transplanting gave 99% control of gall formation (as dry weight). A significant increase in plant growth resulted from combined seed and root inoculation. At transplanting, roots should probably be inoculated within 2 h of lifting. This method of biological control is now widely practised by commercial growers in South Australia.     

Neoplastic Potential of Trichomes Isolated from Tobacco Crown Gall Teratomas

Trichomes (epidermal hairs) of normal and crown gall teratoma tobacco shoots were mechanically isolated and cultured in small drops of liquid growth medium. Trichome cells of normal plants began to divide within 2 weeks and formed calli. Shoots obtained from these cultures were rooted and grown to sexual maturity in the greenhouse. Cells of teratoma trichomes, which were normal in appearance and nontumorigenic in vivo, produced calli with neoplastic properties; these cultures were hormone autonomous and synthesized the tumor-specific amino acid nopaline. Differentiation of trichomes on tobacco teratoma shoots does not require, nor does it necessarily result in, loss of neoplastic potential. The pattern of cell division in cultured trichomes suggests that, in vivo, the plane of division in developing hairs is determined by the orientation of the cylindrical side wall. Trichome culture is a simple, effective cloning technique for normal plants and crown gall teratomas.