Nuclear localization of Agrobacterium VirD2 in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Upon infection of eukaryotic cells, Agrobacterium tumefaciens transfers a piece of its tumor inducing plasmid, T-DNA, to the host cell. The VirD2 virulence protein which is covalently bound to the T-DNA facilitates its transfer, nuclear localization and possibly integration into the host genome in collaboration with the interacting proteins of the host cell. VirD2 is essential for Agrobacterium–mediated transformation of both plants and non-plant cells. Here, using yeast Green Flourescent Protein (yGFP) technology we studied the subcellular localization of VirD2 expressed in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. Fluorescence microscopy showed that an N-terminal yGFP fusion of VirD2, is located in the nucleus of yeast. This highlights nuclear localization of VirD2 in yeast and the importance of NLS sequences of C-terminal of VirD2 in this phenomenon.