Immunoelectron microscopic localization of the nucleolar protein B-36 (fibrillarin) during the cell cycle of Physarum polycephalum.

Monoclonal antibodies raised against the 34-kD nucleolar protein, B-36, from the slime mold Physarum polycephalum have been used to examine the electron microscopic localization of B-36 during the cell cycle in Physarum. During interphase, B-36 is found primarily in regions corresponding to the dense fibrillar component. This is similar to what has been observed for the putative mammalian homologue of B-36, fibrillarin. During mitosis, B-36 remains associated with perichromosomal nucleolar remnants. With the Gautier DNA-specific staining procedure, the same nucleolar remnants are shown to contain short DNA segments, presumably rDNA molecules. These findings suggest that in Physarum, where the nucleolus is composed of several hundred extrachromosomal rDNA molecules, the dense fibrillar component and the "NOR" equivalents do not separate during mitosis as in mammalian cells. In addition, the B-36-enriched nucleolar remnants appear to be recycled from one cell cycle to the next.