C. Ponsonnet et X. Nesme, IDENTIFICATION OF AGROBACTERIUM STRAINS BY PCR-RFLP ANALYSIS OF PTI AND CHROMOSOMAL REGIONS, Archives of microbiology, 161(4), 1994, pp. 300-309
Chromosomes and Ti plasmids of 41 Agrobacterium strains, belonging to
biovars 1, 2, 3, and Agrobacterium rubi species were characterized by
the restriction fragment length polymorphism of PCR-amplified DNAs. Pr
ofiles that were obtained by the analysis of the amplified 16S rDNA co
nfirmed the grouping of the strains according to their species. Higher
polymorphism was detected in the intergenic spacer between the 16S rD
NA and 23S rDNA genes, allowing efficient discrimination of strains. I
dentification of most strains was possible, and the genetic relatednes
ses of Agrobacterium strains could be estimated. The analysis of the p
lasmid Ti encoded regions between the tmr and nos genes, and the virA
and virB(2) genes, allowed fingerprinting of Ti plasmids. Genomic typi
ng by the rapid PCR-RFLP method is thus shown to be useful for an inde
pendant identification of strains and of the conjugative Ti plasmids.