Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a
Gram-
negative bacterium found in
soil and is the
infective agent for crown
gall disease in
plants. Crown gall disease causes
tumors to form at the
crown and at the junction of a plant's
root and
stem. The tumors are caused by the action of the
Ti plasmid in the bacterium; this
plasmid is being heavily
researched by plant
genetic engineers because it is a useful way to introduce new
genes into a
plant cell.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.