DIVERSITY OF OPINES AND OPINE-CATABOLIZING BACTERIA ISOLATED FROM NATURALLY-OCCURRING CROWN GALL TUMORS

The diversity of opines from 43 naturally occurring crown gall tumors on several plant species was analyzed for the presence of agropine, ch rysopine, iminodiacid, an unidentified leucinopine-like iminodiacid (I DA-B), mannopine, octopine, nopaline, DL- and LL-succinamopine, leucin opine and heliopine. Opine utilization patterns of agrobacteria and fl uorescent pseudomonads resident in a tumor were then analyzed and comp ared for agreement with the opine isolated from that tumor. Nopaline w as the most common opine found and was detected in tumors from cherry, blackberry, grape, and plum. Octopine was not found, although octopin e-catabolizing bacteria were isolated from several tumors. A new, prev iously undescribed iminodiacid of the succinamopine-leucinopine type ( provisionally designated IDA-B) was isolated from tumors of wild black berry. Field tumors from apple, blueberry and grape yielded no detecta ble opines, even though opine-utilizing bacteria were present, Bacteri al isolates from plum and cherry showed the best correspondence betwee n the opine in tumors (nopaline) and the presence of bacteria that cat abolized that opine. However, several unusual opine catabolic combinat ions were identified, including isolates that catabolized a variety of opines but were nonpathogenic. More variability was observed among is olates from field tumors on the remaining plant species. We isolated n ovel mannopine-nopaline type agrobacteria from field tumors of cherry, plum and blackberry that induced tumors containing either mannopine ( plus agropine) or nopaline, but not both. Epidemiologically, the galle d plants from an area were not of clonal origin (same Ti plasmid), ind icating that the field tumors from a small area were incited by more t han one type of Ti plasmid.