I am working on my high school graduation project. For this I am doing research into genetic manipulation of plants.
During this manipulation I came across the theory of Marc Van Montagu and Jozef Schell and it is actually not yet completely clear to me how it is that these tumors start to arise.
Answer
The bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens introduces some new genes into the plant’s DNA, in particular genes coding for plant hormones such as auxin and cytokinin. These hormones stimulate an uncontrolled multiplication of plant cells, so that a crown gall tumor develops.
This bacterium is thus able to introduce foreign genes into the plant’s genome, and those genes are effectively put into action in that new environment. That’s what Schell and Van Montagu discovered, and also that you can replace the harmful genes that the bacterium introduces into the plant with desirable genes, so that you can use the bacterium as a plant genetic modification tool.
Answered by
dr.ir. Siska Waelkens
molecular biology
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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