We have established that polypeptides whose synthesis is reduced by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid during in vitro culture of tobacco mesophyll protoplasts are secreted into the vacuole where they constitute the bulk of labeled proteins. In addition, these proteins continue to be synthesized in protoplast-derived cultured cells and their synthesis is strictly correlated with the size of the cell, i.e. with vacuolar size.