T-DNA and opine synthetic loci in tumors incited by Agrobacterium tumefaciens A281 on soybean and alfalfa plants.

A report is given of the molecular characterization of transferred DNA (T-DNA) in leguminous tumors incited by Agrobacterium tumefaciens A281 harboring the tumor-inducing plasmid pTiBo542. The T-DNA is composed of two regions named T/sub L/ (left portion)-DNA and T/sub R/ (right portion)-DNA, in accordance with the nomenclature for the octopine strains. T/sub L/-DNA is defined by several internal HindIII restriction fragments totaling 10.8 kilobase pairs (kbp) in uncloned soybean and alfalfa tumors. Alfalfa tumor DNA may contain one more HindIII fragment at the left end of T/sub L/-DNA that does soybean tumor DNA. T/sub R/-DNA has a 5.8-kbp BamHI-EcoRi internal fragment. All borders other than the left border of T/sub L/-DNA appear to be the same within the detection limits of Southern blot hybridization experiments. The two T-DNA regions are separated by 16 to 19 kbp of DNA not stably maintained in tumors. The distance from the left border of T/sub L/-DNA to the right border of T/sub R/-DNA is approximately 40 kbp. Loci for the mannityl opines are situated in T/sub R/-DNA, based on genetic and biochemical criteria.