β‐Poly‐l‐malate (PMA) is a highly soluble polyanion specifically synthesized during the plasmodial stage of the life cycle in Physarum polycephalum. The polymer partitions in a growth‐dependent fashion between cell nuclei, the cytoplasm and the culture medium, where it is slowly hydrolyzed. It strongly interacts with certain soluble nuclear proteins suggesting the function as a mobile matrix involved in stock‐piling of such molecules and required in the synchronization of the nuclear cell division typical for plasmodia. It is synthesized continuously over the cell cycle during growth involving a PMA polymerase that seems genetically related to the enzyme catalyzing in certain bacteria the polymerization of poly‐β‐hydroxybutyrate.

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