Search

We present the case of a 90-year-old diabetic male and medically managed three-vessel coronary artery disease with evidence of an oval, nonmobile echo-density located on the posterior mitral valve annulus measuring two centimeters in diameter without significant impingement of the mitral valve on initial screening echocardiogram which was initially thought to be prominent mitral annular calcification which was later confirmed to be a rare case of caseoma as confirmed by both cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) as well as coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA).

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a plant pathogen capable of transferring a defined segment of DNA to a host plant, generating a gall tumor. Replacing the transferred tumor-inducing genes with exogenous DNA allows the introduction of any desired gene into the plant. Thus, A. tumefaciens has been critical for the development of modern plant genetics and agricultural biotechnology. Here we describe the genome of A. tumefaciens strain C58, which has an unusual structure consisting of one circular and one linear chromosome. We discuss genome architecture and evolution and additional genes potentially involved in virulence and metabolic parasitism of host plants.

A combined genetic and physical map of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens A348 (derivative of C58) genome was constructed to address the discrepancy between initial single-chromosome genetic maps and more recent physical mapping data supporting the presence of two nonhomologous chromosomes. The combined map confirms the two-chromosome genomic structure and the correspondence of the initial genetic maps to the circular chromosome. The linear chromosome is almost devoid of auxotrophic markers, which probably explains why it was missed by genetic mapping studies.