• Question: Can Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation be applied to non-plant organisms?

    Asked by anon-368398 about Agrobacterium: Soil Microbe, Plant Pathogen, and Natural Genetic Engineer on 27 Jun 2023
    • Photo: Ryan Weir

      Ryan Weir answered on 27 Jun 2023:


      Great question! Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation is generally plant specific. The virulence proteins used by agrobacterium have evolved specifically to transport DNA inside a plant cell, which is quite different from an animal cell. One interesting point though, is that some specific agrobacterium strains can transfer their DNA inside Fungi and Algae cells!

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