Explanation

Agrobacterium tumefaciens (updated scientific name: Rizobium radiobacte) is the causal agent of crown gall desease (the formation of tumour) in over 140 species of dicot. It is a rod-shaped, Gram negative soil bacterium (Smith, et. al, 1907). Symptoms are caused by the insertion of a small segment of DNA, known as T-DNA (transfer DNA) into the plant cell, which is incorporated at a semi-random location into the plant genome.