Bacteria Use Plant Defence for Genetic Modification

**Bacteria** that cause **tumours** in plants modify plant genomes by skilfully exploiting **the plants' first line of defence**. Utilising the plant's own proteins, bacterial genes infiltrate first the nucleus then the plant genome, where they reprogramme the plant's metabolism to suit their own needs. This process was recently discovered as part of an **Austrian Science Fund FWF** project. The genetic manipulation of plants is both, a subject of great controversy in Europe and a tactic already practiced by certain bacteria. The soil bacterium known as crown-gall bacterium (**Agrobacterium**) manipulates the genetic make-up of plants by inserting its own DNA into the nuclei and, consequently, into the genetic material of the plant cells. The genetically modified plants are then reprogrammed to ensure uninhibited cell division and produce nutrients to feed the bacteria. What was not previously understood is exactly **how bacteria genes infiltrate the cell's nucleus** – particularly as the defence mechanisms of plant cells react so rapidly to bacterial invasion. "AlphaGalileo":[ http://www.alphagalileo.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=readrelease&releaseid=524393&ez_search=1]

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