Characterization of Agrobacterium tumefaciens virulence proteins induced by the plant factor acetosyringone

The Ti plasmid virulence (vir) loci encode functions essential for the transfer of the T-DNA element from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to plant cells. The expression of these loci is specifically signaled by plant phenolics such as acetosyringone. Here, we characterize the protein products that are induced in Agrobacterium grown in the presence of acetosyringone. More than 10 to 15 proteins are induced in strains harboring different Ti plasmids. Two general classes of acetosyringone-induced proteins are observed, encoded either within or outside the vir region. Synthesis of both classes of proteins requires acetosyringone and the products of the vir regulatory genes A and G. Those proteins encoded outside the vir region define a novel category of proteins, the virulence-related proteins, which are both chromosomally and Ti plasmid-encoded. The molecular weight and subcellular localization of several pTiA6 vir-induced proteins are identified. The most abundant induced protein has a molecular weight of 65,000, and is the single product of the virE locus; this protein distributes into both cell envelope and soluble fractions. Three proteins with molecular weights of approximately 33,000, 80,000 and 25,000 fractionate with the cell envelope and are encoded by genes within the 5' half of the virB locus. The envelope localization of the virB proteins suggests that they play a role in directing T-DNA transfer events that occur at the bacterial surface.