About the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens and its dual lives
At the heart of this bacterium-plant relationship lies the soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Agrobacterium lives in the rhizosphere, the region in the soil close to plant roots. This area is full of secreted molecules from the plant as well as plenty of other soil microorganisms.
Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a versatile bacterium with two distinct lifestyles. In its free-living state, it happily lives and grows in the soil.
However, the bacterium also responds to some plant molecules, like sugars and acids,…
