The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe was used to identify genes from tobacco BY-2 cells that may play roles in cell cycle regulation. A cDNA encoding a protein homologous to the yeast CDC48 was isolated and the gene was designated as NtCDC48.The cDNA contains an open reading frame coding for a predicted protein of 808 amino acids which comprises of two typical ATPase modules (aa 245-374 and aa 518-646). Overexpression of NtCDC48 in tobacco BY-2 cells led to an increase in the mitotic index as well as to the formation of diffused mitotic spindles. NtCDC48-GFP fusion proteins are distributed ubiquitously through G1 to M phases, yet their subcellular localization varied regularly along with the cell cycle progression. These results indicate that NtCDC48 may play an important role in the regulation of cell cycle in BY-2 cells.