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Tartrate Utilization Genes Promote Growth of Agrobacterium spp. on Grapevine

¹Department of Cellular Biology, Plant Molecular Biology Institute of the C. N. R. S., 12 Rue du Général Zimmer, 67084, Strasbourg, France; ²Research Institute for Viticulture and Enology, P.O. Box 25, 6000 Kecskemét, Hungary; ³INRA, Station de Recherche Vigne et Vin, Laboratoire de Pathologie Végétale, 28 rue de Herrlisheim, 68021 Colmar, France

Crown gall on grapevine is mainly caused by Agrobacterium vitis, which metabolizes tartrate. Competition experiments between a tartrate-utilizing strain and its non-utilizing derivative showed that tartrate utilization confers a selective advantage on grapevine.