Agrobacterium

Agrobacterium is a common soil bacterium that causes crown gall disease in many plants, including grapes, rice, and sugar beets. Agrobacterium is a major agricultural problem worldwide (Aldridge, 2012). Agrobacterium has the ability to introduce new genetic material into the plant cell. The reason of using agrobacterium for plant transformation is the natural ability of it to modify a plant’s genetic makeup (de la Riva et al., 1998). Agrobacterium is one of the most important bacteria used in plant genetic engineering (Zia et al., 2010).The plant genetic transformation offers a significant tool in breeding programs by allowing the direct introduction of agronomically useful gene(s) into important crops. Traditional crop breeding, which was limited by the availability of germplasm to generate genetic diversity, was improved with the use of the plant genetic transformation (Paz et al., 2004). A number of current scientific articles involving the infection of germinated seeds with agrobacterium were taken into account prior to the experiment. The information gleaned informed the methods used in this experiment. Several methods were used to infect germinated seeds in the various articles, but the most effective methods involved cutting the plant stem and introducing agrobacterium to the site, injecting Agrobacterium directly into the stem of plant, and mixing agrobacterium with a soil around stem (Chee et al., 1989).  

Research Question: Is it possible to successfully infect soybean plants with agrobacterium?
Hypothesis: Soybean plants will show evidence of agrobacterium infection through the presentation of tumors following agrobacterium injection, agrobacterium introduction through a cut stem, or mixing agrobacterium into the plant soil.

References

Aldridge, S. (2012). Agrobacterium. In B. W. Lerner & K. L. Lerner (Eds.), In Context Series. Biotechnology: In Context (Vol. 1, pp. 9-11). Detroit: Gale. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.pc.maricopa.edu:2071/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX4020200016&v=2.1&u=mcc_phoe&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
Chee, P. P., Fober, K. A., & Slightom, J. L. (1989). Transformation of Soybean (Glycine max) by Infecting Germinating Seeds with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Planet Physiol, 1212-1218.
de la Riva, G. A., González-Cabrera, J., Vázquez-Padrón, R., & Ayra-Pardo, C. (1998). Agrobacterium tumefaciens: a natural tool for plant transformation. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, 1(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.2225/ vol1-issue3-fulltext-1
Liu, H.-K., Yang, C., & Wei, Z.-M. (2004). Efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of soybeans using an embryonic tip regeneration system. Planta, 219(6), 1042-1049.
Paz, M., Martinez, J. C., Kalvig, A., & Fonger, K. (2006, January 6). Agrobacteruim-mediated
Transformation of Soybeans and Recovery of transgenic Soybeans Plants.
Zia, M., Rizvi, Z. F., Rehman, R. U., & Chaudhary, M. F. (2010). Agrobacterium Mediated Transformation of Soybean (Glycine Max L): Some Conditions Standardization.Retrieved from Quaid-i-Azam University.