Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 root transcriptome response to Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58

As sessile organisms, plants require dynamic pathways in order to recognize pathogens and coordinate plant defenses by signalling. Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 is able to avoid triggering plant defenses prior to entering the cell, and therefore is only detected once infection has begun making Agrobacterium a plant pathogen to numerous plant species. Understanding plant responses to Agrobacterium will be useful in improving plant defenses and potentially may also improve plant transformation efficiency. Microarrays were utilized for detailing the global gene expression pattern in A. thaliana Col-0 roots in response to A. tumefaciens C58 for the identification of differentially expressed genes. 3-week-old A.thaliana Col-0 seedlings were selected for growth in hydroponic systems. A. tumefaciens C58 was inoculated into the hydroponic system and co-cultivation persisted for 8 hours. Root tissue was seperated for RNA extraction and hybridization to the ATH1 Affymetrix microarray.