In situ monitoring of DNA: the plant nuclear envelope allows passage of short DNA fragments

We monitored the cellular localization of fluorescently labeled foreign DNA in living plant cells. After physical delivery of labeled DNA fragments to the cytoplasm, short fragments up to 1.5 kb in length were found equally d istributed between the cytoplasm and nucleus after 60 min. In contrast, 2.5 kb DNA fragments did not appear inside the nucleus. Thus, foreign DNA can enter plant nuclei through the intact nuclear envelope, but the efficiency of this process declines with increasing size of fragment.