Two-dimensional separation of proteins newly synthesized by tobacco mesophyli protoplasts cultivated in vitro allows us to detect, reproducibly, 257 spots. The pattern is extremely stable throughout the three days of culture, the intensity of only 24 spots varying during this time. The absence of cytokinin (N-benzyladenine) in the culture medium prohibits entry into S phase but does not modify the pattern, indicating that none of the observed proteins is specifically synthesized in S, G2, or M phases. The presence of 2,4dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is necessary for the mitotic development of protoplasts. It induces the appearance of one protein, increases the level of another, and reduces that of eight others. All proteins sensitive to auxin belong to the group of proteins the levels of which vary during culture.The isolation ofmesophyll protoplasts from their tissue of origin frees them from the influences which maintained the cells in a differentiated state. Protoplasts in culture do not retain the characteristics of the cells from which they originate: they lose photosynthetic activity, but regain mitotic activity and synthesize a cell wall. Although the disappearance ofphotosynthetic activity occurs regardless of the culture medium, both the reformation of the cell wall and the entry into mitosis do take place in the presence of auxin and cytokinin. We have previously shown (4, 14) that if auxin is absent from the medium, mitotic development does not begin, whereas in the absence of cytokinin this development starts but later stops just before S-phase. The study of this experimental system is thus likely to provide information on the modes of action of auxin and cytokinin, as well as on the development of the mitotic program in a plant cell.The results presented here concern the study of newly synthesized proteins in protoplasts cultivated in complete medium or in medium deficient in auxin or cytokinin. To obtain the best resolution currently available, we compared the patterns obtained by two-dimensional separation of proteins: electrofocusing followed by electrophoresis under denaturing conditions (16, 18).MATERIALS AND METHODS Preparation and Culture of Protoplasts. Tobacco mesophyll protoplasts (Nicotiana tabacum var. Maryland) were prepared and cultivated as described previously in medium WO.6 (12,13) Preparation of Samples. After labeling, protoplasts from one culture dish were collected by centrifugation. Total protein was obtained by lysis of protoplast pellets in 100 pl of a solution containing 9.5 M urea, 2% LKB ampholines (pH 3-10), 5% ,Bmercaptoethanol, and 0.2% SDS. This extract can be frozen and stored at -70°C. Just before electrofocusing, the extract was mixed with two volumes of a solution containing 9.5 M urea, 2% Nonidet P40, 2% LKB ampholines (pH 3.5-10), and 5%8-mercaptoethanol and centrifuged 10 min in Eppendorf tubes. In some experiments "buffer-soluble" proteins were obtained by vortexing protoplast pellets for 30 s in 50 pl of 100 mm Tris-HCl, 10 mM EDTA (pH 8.0). To the sup...