Transbacter Overview

Description

TransBacter is a new method of gene transfer for plants - or indeed any eukaryotic organism - using bacterial species outside the genus Agrobacterium. TransBacter is designed to be a work-around to the many patents covering Agrobacterium transformation and thus aims to overcome the current IP restrictions to the commercialization of products created using bacteria-mediated gene transformation in plants.

Other Resources

Scientific Resources:

Broothaerts W, Mitchell H J, Weir B, Kaines S, Smith L M A, Yang W, Mayer J E, Roa-Rodriguez C, Jefferson R A (2005) Gene transfer to plants by diverse species of bacteria (info), Nature 433:629-633. Supplementary information (info) associated with the Nature article.

TransBacter Protocols

Recommended reading

Media Releases:

Mona Akbari, Breakthrough Removes Obstacles in Biotechnology (info). (Introduction to Transbacter)

Richard A. Jefferson, Osmat Azzam Jefferson, Leon Smith, Brett Baillie, Steve Raines, Bekir Ulkir, Anne Tassie, Lijun Tian, Marie Connett Freedom to Cooperate: Transbacter as a Biological Open Source (BiOS) tool for gene transfer (info). (Introduction to Gene Transfer Technology.)

Intellectual Property and Transbacter:

Carolina Roa-Rodriguez, Carol Nottenburg (updated by Jorge Mayer. (2003) Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of plants (Technology Landscape paper describing the patenting problem with Agrobacterium?
Mary-Dell Chilton, (2005)Adding diversity to plant transformation (info). Nature Biotech,23(3):309-10 - (How Transbacter solves the Patent thicket problem)

What TransBacter materials are available?

Below is a list of materials which are available under the Transbacter Project. They include live bacterial strains transformed with either unitary and binary vectors, as well as CAMBIA's unitary vectors. (The binary vectors are available under the GUSPlus Project.)

TransBacter strains/unitary vectors

Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Trifolii strain ANU845 + pCAMBIA5106 (Km and Spec selection)
Sinorhizobium meliloti + pCAMBIA 5105 (Km and Spec selection)

TransBacter strains/ binary vectors

Mesorhizobium loti + pWBTi1 + pCAMBIA1105.1R (Km and Spec selection)
Rhizobium sp. NGR 234 + pWBTi1 + pCAMBIA1105.1R (Km and Spec selection)
Rhizobium sp. NGR 234 + pWBTi3 + pCAMBIA1105.1R (Km and Spec selection)
Sinorhizobium meliloti + pWBTi1 + pCAMBIA1105.1R (Km and Spec selection)
Sinorhizobium meliloti + pWBTi3 (Km selection)
Sinorhizobium meliloti + pWBTi3 + pCAMBIA1105.1R (Km and Spec selection)

Culturing information for Transbacter strains (info)
View General and Import Information (info)

Unitary vectors

pCAMBIA5105

This vector is a part of a new series of pCAMBIA GT-BACK vectors (gene Transfer-Bacterial Acquired Competence with kanamycin selection) that encompasses a modified version of pCAMBIA 1105.1 and a fragment of the Ti plasmid (derived from pTiBo542) containing only the virA, virB, virC, virD, virE, virG, virK & virJ operons. This new unitary vector allows the DNA transfer capability to be moved into, and stabilized in, a much wider range of bacteria and it will be provided as an open source toolkit.

The added-value features of the new vector over the Transbacter Technology are:

It can be distributed as spots of dilute DNA on paper (e.g. on a letter) eliminating the need for compliance with importation controls on living organisms, and other quarantine issues. This is the means by which literally thousands of laboratories worldwide have obtained (and further sent out) pCAMBIA vector sets.

GT-BacK vector lacks the RK2 derived oriT that Transbacter carried, thus eliminating or reducing the ability of the plasmid to be conjugated and transmissible to other hosts by RK conjugation functions.

It has a broad host range replication origin from pVS1 allowing much wider spectrum of bacteria to be explored as gene transfer vectors, allowing choices of benign symbionts which do not impose physical or genetic stresses on plants.

Click here to view pCAMBIA5105 plasmid map

pCAMBIA5106

pCAMBIA5106 is yet a reduced version of pCAMBIA5105. It lacks virA and virK and has a virG(N54D) mutation in the virG gene. It is smaller than pCAMBIA5105, and because it is virA independent, there is no need to use acetosyringone and seems to be working very well in rice.

View pCAMBIA5106 plasmid map.

To Order TransBacter

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