Ion bombardment induced formation of micro-craters in plant cell envelopes

Ion beam bombardment of biological material has been recently applied for gene transfer in both plant and bacterial cells. A consistent physical mechanism for this significant result has not yet been developed. A fundamental question about the mechanism is the possible formation of pathways due to ion bombardment that are responsible for the gene transfer. We have carried out investigations of the effects of low-energy bombardment by both gaseous and metallic ion species of onion skin cells on their surface microstructure. Our experimental results reveal evidence demonstrating that the formation of micro-crater-like structures on the plant cell envelope surface is a general phenomenon consequent to ion bombardment, no matter what ion species, under certain ion beam conditions. The micro-craters are about 0.1–1 μm in size (diameter) and a few tens of nanometers in depth. The micro-crater formation process seems to be unrelated to the chemical composition of and rapid water evaporation from the cell envelope, but is associated with the special microstructure of the cell wall.