Phosphatidylinositol turnover in crown gall tumour

Abstract

Phosphatidylinositol turnover and steady state levels of phospholipids in crown gall tumour were studied in order to understand the molecular signals involved in the process of tumourigenesis in plant cells. Untransformed callus maintained on hormone supplemented media and leaf of tobacco were taken as control. Our data show that alteration in steady state levels of membrane phospholipids and higher levels of inositol phosphates are characteristic of tumour cells. It is proposed that PI derived second messengers mediate the process of tumourigenesis in plants initiated by integration and expression of T - DNA based oncogenes in plant cell.