Thermosensitive step associated with transfer of the Ti plasmid during conjugation: Possible relation to transformation in crown gall

Abstract
Transfer by a conjugative process of an oncogenic plasmid from a virulent strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to a strain that was cured of the plasmid is thermosensitive. Since the thermosensitive step found in the conjugative process appears similar in every respect to a thermosensitive step that is involved in the transformation of a normal cell to a tumor cell in the crown gall disease of plants, the observed results may reflect the existence of a thermosensitive step that is common to these 2 processes.