Agrobacterium-host interactions: Biology and biotechnology

Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of plant species is the most commonly used technique for the production of genetically modified plants. While research in the past several decades has revealed much of the bacterial molecular machinery and processes by which the bacterium delivers a portion of its DNA into the host cell, we have only recently begun to understand the roles played by host proteins during the transformation process. Several studies have revealed how Agrobacterium hijacks basic cellular processes and uses various plant factors for the transport of its DNA through the host-cell cytoplasm and nuclear membrane and for its integration into the host genome. These studies hold great promise for the future of plant biotechnology, as they can potentially be used to develop new techniques and methods which will expand Agrobacterium's host range to recalcitrant plant species.