Molecular Biology of Plant Tumors

610 Pages·1982·36.341 MB·English

by  Gunter Kahl, Josef S. Schell

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
An International Series of Monographs and Textbooks
Editors: BERNARD HORECKER, NATHAN O. KAPLAN, JULIUS MARMUR, AND
HAROLD A. SCHERAGA
A complete list of titles in this series appears at the end of this volume.
Molecular Biology
of
Plant Tumors
Edited by
GÜNTER KAHL
Department of Biology
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität
Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany
JOSEF S. SCHELL
Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung
Cologne, Federal Republic of Germany
1982
ACADEMIC PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Molecular biology of plant tumors.
(Molecular biology series)
Includes index.
1. Tumors, Plant. 2. Molecular biology. I. Kahl,
Gunter. II. Schell, Josef S. III. Series.
SB741.5.M64 582'.02 82-1819
ISBN 0-12-394380-9 AACR2
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
82 83 84 85 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
List of Contributors
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors' contributions begin.
Margret H. Bayer (33), The Institute for Cancer Research, Fox Chase Cancer
Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19111
/. £. Beringer* (589), John Innes Institute, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom
L. M. Black (69), College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Genetics
and Development, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Il-
linois 61801
Armin C. Braun (155), Laboratory of Plant Biology, The Rockefeller University,
New York, New York 10021
W. ]. Broughton (107), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Egelspfad,
D-5000 Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
Mary-Dell Chilton (299), Department of Biology, Washington University, St.
Louis, Missouri 63130
H. De Grève (537), GEVI, Laboratorium voor Genetische Virologie, Vrije Univer-
siteit Brüssel, St. Genesius-Rhode, Belgium
/. G. Ellis (321), Department of Plant Pathology, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond 5064, South Australia
Ariette Goldmann (427), Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Departement de Phy-
siologie et Biochemie Végétales, Centre National de Recherches Agrono-
mique, 78000 Versailles, France
M. P. Gordon (415), Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington 98195
/. P. Hernalsteens (269, 537), GEVI, Laboratorium voor Genetische Virologie,
Vrije Universiteit Brüssel, St. Genesius-Rhode, Belgium
Barbara Hohn (549), Friedrich-Miescher Institut, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
*Present address: Department of Soil Microbiology, Rothamsted Experimental Station,
Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2IQ, United Kingdom
xv
xvi List of Contributors
Thomas Hohn (549), Freidrich-Miescher Institut, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
M. Holsters (269), Laboratorium voor Genetika, Rijksuniversiteit Gent, 9000
Gent, Belgium
P. /. /. Hooykaas (373, 561), Biochemisch Laboratorium Rijkuniversiteit Leiden,
2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands
A. W. B. Johnston (589), John Innes Institute, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH,
United Kingdom
C. I. Kado (525), Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture and
Environmental Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California
95616
Günter Kahl (211, 497), Fachbereich Biologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Uni-
versität, 6000 Frankfurt-am-Main, Federal Republic of Germany
John D. Kemp (461), U. S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Plant
Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
A. Kerr (321), Department of Plant Pathology, Waite Agricultural Research
Institute, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond 5064, South Australia
P.M. Klapzvijk* (475), Department of Radiation Genetics and Chemical Muta-
genesis, Sylvius Laboratories, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands
/. Leemans (537), GEVI, Laboratorium voor Genetische Virologie, Vrije Univer-
siteit Brüssel, St. Genesius-Rhode, Belgium
A. A. LepidU (561), Instituto di Microbiologia Agraria, University of Pisa, Pisa
56100, Italy
E. G. M. Meijer (107), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Egelspfad,
D-5000 Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
Frederick Meins, Jr.X (3), Departments of Botany and of Genetics and Devel-
opment, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801
M. P. Nuti (561), Istituto di Chimica e Industrie Agrarie, Laboratorio di Mi-
crobiologia Agraria, Università di Padova, Italy
G. Ooms§ (373), Biochemisch Laboratorium, Rijkuniversiteit Leiden, 2333 AL
Leiden, The Netherlands
L. Otten (537), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Egelspfad, D-5000
Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
Annik Petit (451), Laboratoire de Recherches sur le Crown Gall, Station de
Génétique et d'Amélioration des Plantes, Centre National de Recherches
Agronomiques, 78000 Versailles, France
R. K. Prafash11 (561), Biochemisch Laboratorium, Rijkuniversiteit Leiden, 2333
AL Leiden, The Netherlands
^Present address: Department of Microbiology, Unilever Research, Vlaardingen, The
Netherlands
^Present address: Instituto di Microbiologia e Tecnologia Agraria, Tuscia University,
Viterbo, Italy 01100
tPresent address: Friedrich-Miescher Institut, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
§Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Har-
penden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom
"Present address: Molecular Nif-Genetics, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research,
Ithaca, New York 14853
List of Contributors xvii
O. Rohfritsch (131), Laboratoire de Cécidologie, Institut de Botanique, Université
Louis Pasteur, 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
Willi Schäfer (497), Fachbereich Biologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität,
6000 Frankfurt-am-Main, Federal Republic of Germany
/. Schell (269, 537), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung/ Egelspfad,
D-5000 Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany, and GEVI, Laboratorium voor
Genetische Virologie, Vrije Universiteit Brüssel, St. Genesius-Rhode, Belgium
R. A. Schilperoort (373, 475, 561), Biochemisch Laboratorium, Rijkuniversiteit
Leiden, 2333 AL Leiden, The Netherlands
Ch. Shazv^ (537), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Egelspfad, D-
5000 Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
/. D. Shorthouse (131), Department of Biology, Laurentian University, Sudbury,
Ontario P3E 2C6, Canada
Peter Starlinger (345), Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, 5000 Köln 41,
Federal Republic of Germany
Jacques Tempe (427, 451), Laboratoire de Recherches sur le Crown Gall, Station
de Génétique et d'Amélioration des Plantes, Centre National de Recherche
Agronomiques, 78000 Versailles, France
Ram Kewal Tripathit (497), Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Frankfurt, D-6
Frankfurt-am-Main, Federal Republic of Germany
Robert Turgeon§ (391), Department of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton,
Ohio 45469
M. Van Montagu (269, 537), Laboratorium voor Genetika, Rijksuniversiteit Gent,
9000 Gent, Belgium
L. Willmitzer (537), Max-Planck-Institut für Züchtungsforschung, Egelspfad, D-
5000 Köln 30, Federal Republic of Germany
Heinz Zimmermann (497), Fachbereich Biologie, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-
Universität, 6000 Frankfurt-am-Main, Federal Republic of Germany
*Please direct requests for reprints to this address.
"^Present address: Department of Botany, University of Durham, Durham, United King-
dom DH1 3LE
tPresent address: Department of Plant Pathology, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology, Pantnagar, Nainital 263145, India
§Present address: Section of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
Foreword
The publication of this book is timely and fortunate. It provides an
opportunity to learn in detail about the latest insights into the mech-
anism of transformation of plant cells by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Thus
we learn that the integration of viral nucleic acids into the genome of
animal cells resulting in new Mendelian-transmitted genes* is not
unique. As a matter of fact, the T-DNA of the Agrobacterium Ti plasmids
is similarly integrated into the genome of plant cells and can, under
certain conditions, be transmitted sexually to the offspring of plants
obtained from transformed cells.
The data and views presented in the various chapters will indeed
stimulate new research. What distinguishes this book from many pre-
vious ones describing transformation experiments in plants, however,
is the presentation of evidence so solid that we can expect that any
obsolescence engendered by new data will not lead to extensive and
fundamental corrections or to the conclusion that what is presented
had better be forgotten altogether! This book is also important because
it clearly establishes the occurrence of "genetic engineering" as a natural
phenomenon. One of the points very often raised against genetic en-
gineering is that it is completely artificial and must therefore create a
new situation with which life has never before been confronted. The
basis of this argument is the widely held conviction that during evo-
lution the genetic information of organisms as different as bacteria,
plants, and animals has not been and cannot be recombined. It is
* F. Yang and R. B. Simpson (1981). Proc. Natl. Acad. Set. 78, 4151-5155.
xix
XX Foreword
known that animal viruses can carry genetic information across species
barrier. Now it is established that some bacteria naturally transfer genes
to plant cells. Apparently evolution developed the principles and the
use of genetic engineering a long time ago but managed to be discrete
about it! Humans have now rediscovered these principles.
Strains of A. tumefaciens colonize higher plants through genetic en-
gineering by introducing specific genes into plant cells to force them
to produce chemicals that the bacteria can use as "feedstock" materials
and as "energy sources." Bacterial strains in particular also manage to
monopolize these energy sources; only those strains which force the
plants to produce the feedstocks have the necessary capacity to utilize
them. By introducing specific alterations in the T region of Ti plasmids,
plants were obtained which express opine synthesis but are no longer
hormone-independent for their growth, and, vice versa, it has also been
possible to obtain crown gall tumors that do not produce opines. Also,
plant cells have been identified which contain T-DNA sequences that
apparently do not produce any observable phenotypic change (revertant
seedlings from crown gall tumors retain a portion of bacterial Ti plasmid
DNA sequences*). To our knowledge no one has yet observed any
plant cells containing a nonexpressed intact T-DNA similar to what has
been shown to be the case for the genomes of some animal viruses.
Could it be that the epigenetic phenomenon of habituation (hormone-
independent growth) might result from the activation of silent onco-
genes? What in fact is the basis of the "recovery" which is sometimes
observed when crown gall cells are transferred from hormone-free
media to a medium containing low amounts of auxin and high levels
of cytokinin? A trivial explanation would be the loss of the chromosome
with the T-DNA insert. If this possibility could be ruled out, one might
envisage the possibility of repression of the T-DNA genes. These and
* As a review, see Tooze, J., ed. (1981). "The Molecular Biology of Tumor Viruses,"
2nd edition, revised, Volume 10B, DNA Tumor Viruses. Cold Spring Harbor Monograph
Series, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY; Weiss, R., Teich, N.,
Varnus, H., and Coffin, J. (1982). "The Molecular Biology of Tumor Viruses," 2nd edition,
Volume IOC, RNA Tumor Viruses. Cold Spring Harbor Monograph Series, Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. For a comparison, see Bishop, J. M. (1981).
Enemies Within: The Genesis of Retro virus Oncogenes. Cell 23, 5-6.
Foreword xxi
many other questions will probably be answered soon. These answers
will be crucial to the genesis of plant developmental biology and, who
knows, may serve as a basis for improved understanding and treatment
of human cancer.
G. Melchers
Preface
Cancer is a particularly challenging problem both as a disease and
as a phenomenon of abnormal cellular growth. For obvious reasons,
the bulk of research has been devoted to study of animal and human
cancers. As a scientific study object, however, plant cancers deserve
our full attention.
Plant cancers are known to be caused either by viruses or by bacteria
or by genetic imbalance, as is the case for the so-called genetic tumors
that spontaneously arise on certain plant hybrids. Although a consid-
erable amount of observations have been accumulated in relation to
plant oncogenesis in general, very little was known about the under-
lying mechanisms until very recently.
Yet the study of the molecular mechanism responsible for the crown
gall phenomenon (induced by Agrobacterium tumefaciens) has turned out
to be extraordinarily rewarding and illustrates the point that the fun-
damental study of the cause(s) and mechanism(s) of abnormal growth
might be one of the most efficient ways to understand cellular differ-
entiation and the molecular basis of gene expression. The genetic struc-
ture responsible for the neoplasmic transformation of plant cells in
crown galls is a bacterial plasmid (called Ti for tumor-inducing). Re-
search described in this volume led us to realize that these Ti plasmids
were designed by evolution as natural gene vectors with which some
bacteria can introduce active genes into plants. These transferred genes
are stably maintained by integration in the plant genome and their
expression is directly or indirectly responsible for the tumorous growth
pattern.
XXlll