Cellular motiIity—experiments on contractile and motile mechanisms in the slime mouldPhysarum polycephalum

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Abstract
Actin and myosin, the major proteins of the contractile complex actomyosin, have now been demonstrated to be important constituents of many eukaryotic cells. As in muscle, their role is primarily that of a contractile system. This system is thought to underly all aspects of cellular motility: locomotion, shape change, mitosis and meiosis, cell division, cytoplasmic streaming, organelle motion, endo-cytosis (pinocytosis, phagocytosis), and exocytosis. We describe here a simple experimental system to demonstrate quantitatively aspects of motility and its regulation in the slime mould Physarum polycephalum