plant bacteria:Agrobacterium

[didymocarpus]

is agrobacterium harmful to animals(including human beings) in any way?
any such sporadic reports?

[benny]

no.. only plants, via lateral gene transfer. it can transfer genes to E. coli, but this does not induce virulence as the tra plasmid contained on the Ti plasmid has a broad host range, but the oriV gene does not. this prevents the bacterial genes from replicating (with the possibility of mutation later on). the virulence system of the bacterium responds to acetosyringone, a phenolic compound secreted by injured tissue in plants.