Agrobacterium

1 8.9

A soil bacterium that causes tumor-like growths on plant stems and is used to add genes to plants

noun
/ˌæɡroʊbækˈtɪəriəm/

Specialized

: Agrobacterium

Examples

Their procedure, patterned after one used by scientists elsewhere with other plant species, relies on bathing pieces of leaves in a solution containing a reworked form of a microbe, Agrobacterium tumefaciens.

Academic text (1999)
The bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens is known for causing galls on plant stems when it infects them.
Researchers are studying Agrobacterium as a method for improving plant resistance to diseases.
Using Agrobacterium for gene transfer has become a standard technique in plant biotechnology.

Surface Forms

Agrobacterium singular

Agrobacteria plural

Morphology

Agrobacterium = bacterium (semi-transparent) = agro + bacterium

Formed from the combining form 'agro-' (relating to agriculture) and 'bacterium'; the parts are clear but the term is a specialized scientific genus name that learners may not intuitively interpret.

Etymology

Agrobacterium combines agro- meaning 'field' or 'land', as in agriculture, and bacterium meaning 'a tiny microbe'. So, Agrobacterium is like a 'field bacterium' — a soil microbe that lives by plants and can cause growths or be used to put new genes into plants for research.