Naslov
Homology-dependent DNA transfer from plants to a soil bacterium under laboratory conditions: implications in evolution and horizontal gene transfer

Autori
Tepfer, David ; Garcia-Gonzales, Rolando ; Mansouri, Hounayda ; Šeruga, Martina ; Message, Brigitte ; Leach, Francesca, Ćurković Perica, Mirna

Izvornik
Transgenic research (0962-8819) 12 (2003); 425-437

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Acinetobacter; Agrobacterium; biosafety; horizontal gene transfer; junk DNA; transposon

Sažetak
DNA transfer was demonstrated from six species of donor plants to the soil bacterium, Acinetobacter spp. BD413, using neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) as a marker for homologous recombination. These laboratory results are compatible with, but do not prove, DNA transfer in nature. In tobacco carrying a plastid insertion of nptII, transfer was detected with 0.1 g of disrupted leaves and in oilseed rape carrying a nuclear insertion with a similar quantity of roots. Transfer from disrupted leaves occurred in sterile soil and water, without the addition of nutrients. It was detected using intact tobacco leaves and intact tobacco and Arabidopsis plants in vitro. Transfer was dose-dependent and sensitive to DNase, and mutations in the plant nptII were recovered in receptor bacteria. DNA transfer using intact roots and plants in vitro was easily demonstrated, but with greater variabity. Transfer varied with plant genome size and the number of repeats of the marker DNA in the donor plant. Transfer was not detected in the absence of a homologous nptII in the receptor bacteria. We discuss these results with reference to non-coding DNA in plant genomes (e.g., introns, transposons and junk DNA) and the possibility that DNA transfer could occur in nature.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija

POVEZANOST RADA