G1 cyclin involved in regulation of the cell cycle; activates Cdc28p kinase to promote the G1 to S phase transition; late G1 specific expression depends on transcription factor complexes, MBF (Swi6p-Mbp1p) and SBF (Swi6p-Swi4p); CLN2 has a paralog, CLN1, that arose from the whole genome duplication; cell cycle arrest phenotype of the cln1 cln2 cln3 triple null mutant is complemented by any of human cyclins CCNA2, CCNB1, CCNC, CCND1, or CCNE1