Physarum polycephalum L., a naturally synchronized myxomycophyta, was demonstrated to contain a cyclin B1-like protein by Western blot and immunoelectron microscopy. The content and subcellular location of the protein varied during the cell cycle. The cyclin B1-like protein was first detected in the plasmodia of S phase while it did not appear in the nuclei until late G2 phase. The content of the protein in both the plasmodia and nuclei rose gradually onwards, peaked at metaphase and disappeared abruptly at ana-telophase. The protein was found to be distributed in both the cytoplasm and nuclei in late G2 phase and metaphase. In nuclei, the protein was mainly located in the chromosomal and nucleolar areas. The results suggest that the cyclin B1-like protein of P. polycephalum begins to be synthesized at S phase, enters the nuclei at late G2 phase, accumulates in both cytoplasm and nuclei onwards and breaks down at ana-telophase. The results also suggest that the cyclin B1-like protein acts as a cytoplasmic-nuclear protein during certain phases of the cell cycle.
