Identification of closely related Agrobacterium vitis isolates by chromosomal DNA probes.

Crown gall formation on grapevine by Agrobacterium vitis is an important plant disease in many regions of the world. On grapevine, octopine/cucumopine (o/c) strains are widely distributed. Here we describe two chromosomal sequences of o/c strains of 15 and 20 kb, which reveal a high degree of polymorphism in different o/c isolates. Part of the polymorphism is due to the presence or absence of a 2.2-kb-long repeated sequence, a homolog of which is also found on the octopine Ti plasmid of Ach5, immediately to the left of the left TL-region border. The occurrence and distribution of this repeat in different o/c isolates make it possible to reconstruct the evolution of these strains. The chromosomal DNA sequences outside the repeats also differ in various isolates. The two probes described here can be used to identify strains from a collection, classify new isolates, or trace a given isolate under experimental release conditions.