Plasmacytoma cells, transfected with a vector encoding a membrane-bound IgM molecule, do not show cell surface IgM expression, although complete IgM molecules are assembled intracellularly. The isolation of a surface IgM-positive variant allowed us to analyse molecular requirements of surface IgM expression. Only in surface IgM-positive cells, a 34-kd protein (B34) was found to be associated with IgM. B34 is a glycoprotein which forms a disulphide-linked homodimer. The surface IgM-positive variant cell line expressing B34 also contains transcripts of the pre-B and B cell specific mb-1 gene. The data are discussed in the context of a possible IgM-antigen receptor complex.