Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a pathogenic bacterium, which can genetically transform plants and other organisms. It does so by translocating a part of its DNA, the T-strand, in complex with the... Show moreAgrobacterium tumefaciens is a pathogenic bacterium, which can genetically transform plants and other organisms. It does so by translocating a part of its DNA, the T-strand, in complex with the relaxase protein VirD2. We have shown that VirD2 is the determinant of translocation of the VirD2-T-strand complex, rather than the T-strand. Furthermore, we have elucidated the role of the DUF domain of VirD2. DUF is shown to be important for localization of VirD2 to the cell poles. Polar localization is essential for translocation of VirD2 to the recipient cell. Using VirD2 as a carrier, we have shown that several biotechnological important enzymes can be transferred to Arabidopsis thaliana. Of the relaxase-homing endonuclease fusion protein VirD2-I-SceI, we have shown that it can induce the formation of double-strand breaks in the Arabidopsis genome after translocation from Agrobacterium. Show less
