A novel cysteine-rich peptide regulates cell expansion in the tobacco pistil and influences its final size

Plant morphogenesis is dependent on cell proliferation and cell expansion, which are responsible for establishing final organ size and shape during development. Several genes have been described as encoding components of the plant cell development machinery, among which are the plant peptides. Here we describe a novel cysteine-rich plant peptide (68 amino acids), encoded by a small open reading frame gene (sORF). It is specifically expressed in the reproductive organs of Nicotiana tabacum and is developmentally regulated. N- and C-terminal translational fusions with GFP in protoplasts have demonstrated that the peptide is not secreted. Knockdown transgenic plants produced by RNAi exhibited enlarged pistils due to cell expansion and the gene was named Small Peptide Inhibitor of Cell Expansion (SPICE). Estimation of nuclear DNA content using flow cytometry has shown that cell expansion in pistils was not correlated with endoreduplication. Decreased SPICE expression also affected anther growth and pollen formation, resulting in male sterility in at least one transgenic plant. Our results revealed that SPICE is a novel reproductive organ specific gene that controls cell expansion, probably as a component of a signal transduction pathway.