The frequency of possible 'horizontal' gene transfer between a plant and a tightly associated bacterial pathogen was studied in a model system consisting of transgenic Solanum tuberosum, containing a beta-lactamase gene linked to a pBR322 origin of replication, and Erwinia chrysanthemi. This experimental system offers optimal conditions for the detection of possible horizontal gene transfer events, even when they occur at very low frequency. Horizontal gene transfer was not detected under conditions mimicking a 'natural' infection. The gradual, stepwise alteration of artificial, positive control conditions to idealized natural conditions, however, allowed the characterization of factors that affected gene transfer, and revealed a gradual decrease of the gene transfer frequency from 6.3 x 10(-2) under optimal control conditions to a calculated 2.0 x 10(-17) under idealized natural conditions. These data, in combination with other published studies, argue that horizontal gene transfer is so rare as to be essentially irrelevant to any realistic assessment of the risk involved in release experiments involving transgenic plants.