Reduction of cell size induced by enod40 in Arabidopsis thaliana.

An extensive analysis of organ and cell size was performed in three different Arabidopsis lines transformed with the early nodulin gene enod40 under control of the CaMV35S promoter. All three transgenic lines presented a significant decrease in the mean size of both epidermal internode and leaf mesophyll cells. Flow cytometric and image analysis of enod40-transfected protoplasts prepared from wild-type Arabidopsis cell suspensions showed that transient expression of the gene resulted in reduced forward light scattering (a factor correlated with particle size) and cell size. The direct administration of ENOD40 peptide to fresh protoplasts also resulted in reduced forward scattering with respect to the control and to the administration of unrelated peptides. As far as is known this is the first report documenting a biological effect of enod40 at the cellular level in non-legume plants.