When nutrients are provided uniformly, the nuclei in the plasmodium divide synchronously, accounting for the interest in using P. polycephalum as a model organism to study the cell cycle, or more specifically the nuclear division cycle. When the plasmodium is starved, it has two alternative developmental pathways.
When nutrients are provided evenly, the nuclei within the plasmodium divide synchronously, making P. polycephalum an ideal model for studying the cell cycle and particularly the process of nuclear division.  However, when deprived of nutrients, the plasmodium can take two different developmental pathways.