Mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972h-. Changes in inhibitor sensitivities during the cell cycle indicate similarities and differences in binding sites.

1. We used 11 different inhibitors of energy conservation as inhibitors of ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) in extracts of Schizosaccharomyces pombe obtained from cells at different stages of the cell cycle. 2. All the inhibitors showed cell-cycle-dependent variations in their I50 values (microng of inhibitor/mg of protein giving 50% inhibition of inhibitor-sensitive ATPase at pH 8.6). 3. From the sensitivity profiles through the cell cycle it was concluded that: (a) oligomycin, venturicidin, triethyltin sulphate and dibutylchloromethyltin chloride all act at closely associated site(s); (b) NN'-dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide and leucinostatin both act at a similar site, which is, however, distinct from that at which other inhibitors of the membrane factor (Fo) act. 4. The variations in I50 values for efrapeptin closely followed changes in specific activity of ATPase, as would be expected for an inhibitor acting at catalytic sites; these fluctuations were different from those for aurovertin, Dio-9, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan, quercetin and spegazzinine, all of which show different sensitivity profiles from one another. 5. Anomalous stepwise inhibitor-titration curves were obtained for spegazzinine, NN'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, dibutylchloromethyltin chloride and leucinostatin. 6. Possible explanations are proposed for the discontinuous expression of inhibitor-binding sites during the cell cycle.     

Adenosine triphosphatase activity of Tritrichomonas foetus.

Homogenates of Tritrichomonas foetus exhibited a Mg2+-dependent adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity, with a pH optimum in Tris buffers of 8.2 to 8.3. The activity was not sensitive to oxygen. At high concentrations, quercetin and 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan inhibited ATPase activity in the cytoplasmic extract by 20 and 70%, respectively, whereas oligomycin, venturicidin, triethyltin, leucinostatin, dibutylchloromethyltin chloride, spegazzinine, efrapeptin, citreoviridin and sodium azide had no effect and N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide stimulated the activity somewhat. The activity was localized in a population of small cytoplasmic particles which also contained an acid phosphatase. There was no indication of an association of ATPase with hydrogenosomes. The ATPase activity (or activities) in this aerotolerant anaerobe is different from the ATPases characteristic of mitochondria or of anaerobic bacteria.     

Antibiotic inhibitors of mitochondrial ATP synthesis.

Fourteen antibiotics have been found to inhibit oxidative phosphorylation and uncoupler-stimulated adenosinetriphosphatase in mitochondria. Four different types of binding sites for these inhibitors have been found. The first (1) binds aurovertin to purified MF1 ATPase in the stoichiometric ratio of two aurovertin molecules per molecule of ATPase. Site II is the locus for efrapeptin (A23871) and may be a catalytic site on purified ATPase. The remaining two sites have been demonstrated only in mitochondria or submitochondrial particles when the APTase is bound to other membrane components. Oligomycin, venturiciden, venturicidin X and ossamycin probably all bind at site III. Leucinostatin (A20668) binds at site IV. At low concentrations, this antibiotic acts like oligomycin; at higher concentrations it uncouples oxidative phosphorylation. Venturicidin appears to prevent leucinostation from binding at site IV for it allows uncoupling to occur at very low concentrations of the latter antibiotic. Venturicidin aglycone, which is a more effective inhibitor than its parent compound, does not exert this effect. It is concluded that sites III and IV are in juxtaposition and that when venturicidin binds at site III its sugar moiety projects into the area of site IV to prevent leucinostation from binding at its inhibitory site.     

Spegazzinine,a new inhibitor of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation

The effects of spegazzinine, a dihydroindole alkaloid, on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation were studied.Spegazzinine inhibited coupled respiration and phosphorylation in rat liver mitochondria. The I₅₀ was 120 μM. Uncouplers released the inhibition of coupled respiration. Arsenate-stimulated mitochondrial respiration was partially inhibited by spegazzinine. The stimulation of mitochondrial respiration by Ca²⁺ and the proton ejection associated with the ATP-dependent Ca²⁺ uptake were not affected by the alkaloid.Oxidative phosphorylation and the P_i-ATP exchange reaction of phosphorylating beef heart submitochondrial particles were strongly inhibited by spegazzinine (I₅₀, 50 μM) while the ATP-dependent reactions, reduction of NAD⁺ by succinate and the pyridine nucleotides transhydrogenase were less sensitive (I₅₀, 125 μM). Oxygen uptake by submitochondrial particles was not affected.The 2,4-dinitrophenol-stimulated ATPase activity of rat liver mitochondria was not affected by 300 μM spegazzinine, a concentration of alkaloid that completely inhibited phosphorylation. However, higher concentrations of spegazzinine did partially inhibit it. The ATPase activities of submitochondrial particles, insoluble and soluble ATPases were also partially inhibited by high concentrations of spegazzinine.The inhibitory properties of spegazzinine on energy transfer reactions are compared with those of oligomycin, aurovertin and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. It is concluded that spegazzinine effects are very similar to the effects of aurovertin and that its site of action may be the same or near the site of aurovertin.     

Immunological properties of membrane-bound adenosine triphosphatase: immunological identification of rutamycin-sensitive F0.F1ATPase from Micrococcus luteus ATCC 4698 established by crossed immunoelectrophoresis.

(1) F0.F1ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) from Micrococcus luteus ATCC 4698 was solubilized from plasma membranes by the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100 in the presence of 0.05 M MgCl2. (2) The antibiotics rutamycin, Dio-9, quercetin, oligomycin, botrycidin, efrapeptin, leucinostatin, valinomycin, and venturicidin as well as N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and dinitrophenol are potent inhibitors of F0.F1ATPase activity.(3) F0.F1ATPase activity is completely inhibited by anti-F1ATPase antibodies. The inhibition is non-competitive. (4) Crossed immunoelectrophoresis reveals a reaction of immunological identity of F0.F1ATPase and F1ATPase indicating that both enzymes have in common antigenic sites.     

Genetics of the mammalian oxidative phosphorylation system: characterization of a new oligomycin-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

The properties of a new type of oligomycin-resistant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line (Olir 2.2) are described in this paper. Olir 2.2 cells were approximately 50,000-fold more resistant to oligomycin than were wild-type CHO cells when tested in glucose-containing medium, but only 10- to 100-fold more resistant when tested in galactose-containing medium. Olir 2.2 cells grew with a doubling time similar to that of wild-type cells both in the presence or absence of oligomycin. Oligomycin resistance in Olir 2.2 cells was stable in the absence of drug. In vitro assays indicated that there was approximately a 25-fold increase in the resistance of the mitochondrial ATPase to inhibition by oligomycin in Olir 2.2 cells, with little change in the total ATPase activity. The electron transport chain was shown to be functional in Olir 2.2 cells. Olir 2.2 cells were cross-resistant to other inhibitors of the mitochondrial ATPase (such as rutamycin, ossamycin, peliomycin, venturicidin, leucinostatin, and efrapeptin) and to other inhibitors of mitochondrial functions (such as chloramphenicol, rotenone, and antimycin). Oligomycin resistance was expressed codominantly in hybrids between Olir 2.2 cells and wild-type cells. Cross-resistance to ossamycin, peliomycin, chloramphenicol, antimycin, venturicidin, leucinostatin, and efrapeptin was also expressed codominantly in hybrids. Fusions of enucleated Olir 2.2 cells with wild-type cells and characterization of the resulting cybrid clones indicated that resistance to oligomycin and ossamycin results from a mutation in both a nuclear gene and a cytoplasmic gene. Cross-resistance to efrapeptin, leucinostatin, venturicidin, and antimycin results from a mutation in only a nuclear gene.     

The proton-translocating adenosine triphosphatase of the obligately anaerobic bacterium Clostridium pasteurianum. 1. ATP phosphohydrolase activity.

1. The cell-membrane ATP phosphohydrolase of vegetatively grown Clostridium pasteurianum was specifically Mg2+-dependent, but demonstrated significant activity with GTP, CTP and UTP. It displayed approximate Michaelis-Menten kinetics only in the presence of certain effectors (e.g. phosphoenolpyruvate, fructose 1,6-bis-phosphate) which decreased the Km for ATP (to below 2 mM) but also V, whilst extending to pH 5.8 the effective pH range of activity of the enzyme. 2. ATP phosphohydrolase activity of the membrane ATPase (BF0F1) was inhibited by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, butyricin 7423, Dio-9, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan, efrapeptin, leucinostatin and quercetin, and to a lesser degree by aurovertin and citreoviridin. The enzyme was not inhibited by oligomycin, spegazzinine, tributyl tin, triethyl tin or venturicidin. The soluble ATPase (BF1) component differed in not being inhibited by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, butyricin 7423 or leucinostatin. 3. The ATPase (BF0F1) complex and its soluble (BF1) component were separately purified. 4. Dodecylsulphate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis separated only four polypeptide components in the purified ATPase (BF0F1), with approximate molecular weights (+/- 10%) as follows: subunit a, 65 500; subunit c, 57 500; subunit da, 43 000; subunit fa, 15 000. The soluble (BF1 component contained only the three polypeptide subunits a, c and da. These were present in the BF0F1 preparation in the ratio 2 : 1 : 2; the contribution of subunit fa could not satisfactorily be quantified. 5. Subunit a was identified as the component binding 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan and subunit fa as the component binding N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The ATP phosphohydrolase activity of the membrane ATPase was not activated by trypsin treatment and the ATPase (BF0F1) contained no trypsin-sensitive inhibitor protein subunit. 6. Purified ATPase (BF0F1) was incorporated into artificial proteoliposomes which demonstrated ATP-dependent enhancement of 8-anilinonaphthalene-1-sulphonate fluorescence and ATP-dependent proton influx. These reactions were abolished by proton conductors (e.g. carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone) by valinomycin in the presence of a high external concentration of K+, or by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, butyricin 7423, Dio-9, 4-chloro-7-nitrobenzofurazan or leucinostatin. Oligomycin, tributyl tin, triethyl tin and venturicidin were not inhibitory. 7. When stripped of the soluble BF1 component, such ATPase-proteoliposomes demonstrated nil ATP phosphohydrolase activity and did not display ATP-dependent enhancement of 8-anilino-naphthalene-1-sulphonate fluorescence or ATP-dependent protein influx. All of these activities were restored by incubation of the BF1-depleted proteoliposomes with a purified preparation of the soluble BF1 component.     

Uncoupling and specific inhibition of phosphoryl transfer reactions in mitochondria by antibiotic A20668.

A20668 A, B, and C are polypeptide antibiotics that inhibit phosphorylation of ADP, Mg2t-ATPase, and the ATP-driven transhydrogenase of rat liver submitochondrial particles, but not the purified F1 ATPase. In intact mitochondria, 120668 inhibits uncoupler-induced ATPase, State 3 respiration, and phosphorylation; the A and B forms are approximately equipotent with rutamycin, whereas A20668 C is less effective. Concentrations of A20668 slightly greater than required for complete inhibition of phosphoryl transfer stimulate rapid, uncoupled respiration by mitochondria under State 3 of 4 conditions. A20668 A and B are more effective uncouplers than A20668 C. In the presence of venturicidin or ossamycin, concentrations of A20668, which alone do not uncouple, stimulate oxygen consumption of mitochondria incubated under either State 3 of 4 conditions. A20668 uncoupling is not potentiated by prior inhibition of phosphoryl transfer by venturicidin X, rutamycin, aurovertin, or efrapeptin. A20668 increases mitochondrial permeability to protons in passive swelling experiments where facilitation of proton conductance correlates well with potency to uncouple. A20668 apparently binds initially at a unique locus to inhibit mitochondrial phosphoryl transfer reactions. When this site is saturated, additional antibiotic may uncouple by increasing proton conductance of mitochondria. Binding of venturicidin or ossamycin appears to interfere with the binding of A20668 to its adjacent inhibitory site, thus effectively increasing the concentration of A20668 available to uncouple.     

Extra-chromosomal inheritance of rhodamine 6G resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Summary Rhodamine 6G was found to be a specific inhibitor of aerobic growth of yeast, having no effect on fermentative growth. A single step spontaneous mutant of S. cerevisiae resistant to rhodamine 6G was isolated, which showed cross-resistance to the ATPase inhibitors venturicidin and triethyltin, to the uncoupler 1799, to bongkrekic acid and to cycloheximide, but not to oligomycin or to the inhibitors of mitochondrial protein synthesis, chloramphenicol and erythromycin. The genetic analysis of this mutant showed that both nuclear and cytoplasmic (but apparently not mitochondrial) factors may be involved in the determination of the mutation. The behaviour is discussed as a possible function for 2 micron circular (omicron) DNA.     

ATPase complex and oxidative phosphorylation in chloramphenicol-induced megamitochondria from mouse liver.

1. Functional properties of the ATPase complex are investigated in megamitochondria isolated from livers of weanling mice fed a diet containing 2% chloramphenicol, as an inhibitor of mitochondrial protein synthesis. 2. Whereas the specific activity of ATPase remains unchanged in chloramphenicol-induced megamitochondria, about 40% of the enyzme activity is resistant to inhibition by oligomycin, triethyltin or venturicidin. It is concluded that the ATPase complex lacks one or more components whose synthesis or accumulation is dependent on mitochondrial translation. The inhibitor-resistant ATPase portion appears tightly bound to the mitochondrial membrane. 3. Respiratory chain phosphorylation is tightly coupled in isolated megamitochondria. ATP synthesis and ATP-Pi exchange are diminished by 40%, as compared to control mitochondria, but both processes are sensitive to oligomycin, triethyltin or venturicidin. 4. The decrease in ATP synthesis and ATP-Pi exchange in megamitochondria correlates quite well with the emergence of inhibitor-resistant ATPase. 5. The following electron transport activities in the megmitochondria are reduced: NADH-cytochrome c reductase, by 60%, cytochrome oxidase, by 80%; the amount of antimycin required to gain complete inhibition of the bc1-segment is diminished by more than 50%. On the other hand succinate dehydrogenase activity is increased by 50%. 6. Chloramphenicol-induced megamitochondria appear to be a useful system for studying the role of mitochondrial translation in the assembly of mammalian mitochondria.     

Loose binding of testicular mitochondrial ATPase to the inner membrane

Rat testis mitochondrial ATPase was not inhibited by oligomycin at pH 7.5. It was inhibited only at higher alkaline pH's, and showed a lower sensitivity both to oligomycin and N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and a higher one to efrapeptin. In submitochondrial particles, testis ATPase was only slightly inhibited by oligomycin, ossamycin, and efrapeptin. The possibility of a loose binding of F₁ to the membrane was supported by its recovery from the supernatant of the submitochondrial particles. Furthermore, by electron microscopy, after hypoosmotic shock and negative staining of the mitochondrial preparations, most of the inner mitochondrial membranes showed only a few “knobs” or none at all. The capacity of the testis mitochondrial preparation to produce ATP was tested and compared to that from liver. ATP synthetase/ATPase activity ratio was $\text{30}\text{1}$ in liver mitochondria, whereas in the testis it was $\text{3}\text{1}$. In spite of this large difference, at least part of the testis ATPase must be firmly bound to the membrane, since it is able to form ATP. The rest seems to be loosely bound and its functional significance is still unknown.     

An acyl-thioesterase from yeast mitochondria

A previously unstudied acyl-coenzyme A thioesterase activity has been demonstrated in submitochondrial particles from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The preferred substrate for the enzyme activity is oleoyl-coenzyme A. Tests with inhibitors of the thioesterase showed that, in addition to common thiol inhibitors, the oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors oligomycin and venturicidin also blocked thioesterase activity. Purification of the enzyme catalyzing this activity revealed that thioesterase copurified with mitochondrial ATPase. When thioesterase was isolated from oxidative phosphorylation mutants selected for resistance to these two inhibitors, thioesterase activity was also resistant. The results suggest that thioester hydrolysis may be catalyzed by components associated with the isolated ATPase complex. Further attempts to link this activity to in vivo function of ATPase were not successful.     

A novel mechanism of enzymic ester hydrolysis. Inversion of configuration and carbon-oxygen bond cleavage by secondary alkylsulphohydrolases from detergent-degrading micro-organisms.

Ligand-binding studies with labelled triethyltin on yeast mitochondrial membranes showed the presence of high-affinity sites (KD = 0.6 micronM; 1.2 +/- 0.3 nmol/mg of protein) and low-affinity sites (KD less than 45 micronM; 70 +/- 20 nmol/mg of protein). The dissociation constant of the high-affinity site is in good agreement with the concentration of triethyltin required for inhibition of mitochondrial ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) and oxidative phosphorylation. The high-affinity site is not competed for by oligomycin or venturicidin, indicating that triethyltin reacts at a different site from these inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation. Fractionation of the mitochondrial membrane shows a specific association of the high-affinity sites with the ATP synthase complex. During purification of ATP synthase (oligomycin-sensitive ATPase) there is a 5-6-fold purification of oligomycin- and triethyltin-sensitive ATPase activity concomitant with a 7-9-fold increase in high-affinity triethyltin-binding sites. The purified yeast oligomycin-sensitive ATPase complex contains approximately six binding sites for triethyltin/mol of enzyme complex. It is concluded that specific triethyltin-binding sites are components of the ATP synthase complex, which accounts for the specific inhibition of ATPase and oxidative phosphorylation by triethyltin.     

Effect of ubiquinone-homologs on the sensitivity of mitochondrial ATPase to energy transfer inhibitors.

Short-chain ubiquinone (UQ-3) abolishes oligomycin sensitivity of ATPase in submitochondrial particles and the effect is reversed by long-chain ubiquinone (UQ-7). Ubiquinone-3 also abolishes DCCD sensitivity of ATPase in submitochondrial particles but the effect is not reversed by long-chain ubiquinones. These data suggest that ubiquinone interferes with energy transfer process by interaction with mitochondrial ATPase.     

Interaction between ubiquinone and ATPase in mitochondrial membranes

The extraction of ubiquinone from mitochondrial membranes produces alterations of ATPase activity including a reversible loss of oligomycin sensitivity which is restored by long-chain Q-homologs. Short-chain ubiquinones like Q₃ produce a loss of oligomycin and dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) sensitivity in submitochondrial particles. The effect shows uncompetitive or noncompetitive kinetics with respect to oligomycin or DCCD respectively. Long-chain ubiquinones have a competitive effect with Q₃, thus restoring oligomycin sensitivity; they behave, however, in about the same way as Q₃ in lowering the DCCD sensitivity in submitochondrial particles. On the basis of these observations we suggest that ubiquinone may be a physiological modulator of ATPase activity in the mitochondrial membrane.Abbreviations used: BHM, beef heart mitochondria; DCCD, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide; ETP, electron transfer particles (submitochondrial particles); Q, ubiquinone.     

Physiological and genetic modifications of the expression of the yeast mitochondrial adenosine triphosphatase inhibitor.

1. The oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity of submitochondrial particles of the glycerol-grown "petite-negative" yeast: Schizosaccharomyces pombe is markedly stimulated by incubation at 40 degrees C and by trypsin activations are treatment. Both increased in Triton-X 100 extracts of the submitochondrial particles. 2. A trypsin-sensitive inhibitory factor of mitochondrial ATPase with properties similar to that of beef heart has been extracted and purified from glycerol-grown and glucose-grown S. pombe wild type, from the nuclear pleiotropic respiratory-deficient mutant S. pombe M126 and from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. 3. ATPase activation by heat is more pronounced in submitochondrial particles isolated from glycerol-grown than from glucose-grown S. pombe. An activation of lower extent is observed in rat liver mitochondrial particles but is barely detectable in the "petite-positive" yeast: S. cerevisiae. No activation but inhibition by heat is observed in the pleitotropic respiratory-deficient nuclear mutant S. pombe M126. 4. The inhibition of S. pombe ATPase activity by low concentrations of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide dissapears at inhibitor concentrations above 25 muM. In Triton-extract of submitochondrial particles net stimulation of ATPase activity is observed at 100 muM dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. The pattern of stimulation of ATPase activity by dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in different genetic and physiological conditions parallels that produced by heat and trypsin. A similar mode of action is therefore proposed for the three agents: dissociation or inactivation of an ATPase inhibitory factor. 5. We conclude that "petite-positive" and "petite-negative" yeasts contain an ATPase inhibitor factor with properties similar to those of the bovine mitochondrial ATPase inhibitor. The expression of the ATPase inhibitor, measured by ATPase activation by heat, trypsin or high concentrations of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, is sensitive to alterations of the hydrophobic membrane environment and dependent on both physiological state and genetic conditions of the yeast cells.     

Single nuclear gene inherited cross resistance and collateral sensitivity to 17 inhibitors of mitochondrial function in S. cerevisiae

Summary Previous tetrad analyses defined a yeast strain (332-7c) as containing a single nuclear gene (11.8 map units from the centromere) conferring resistance to oligomycin. Resistance to 18 additional inhibitors of mitochondrial function (Table 1) was determined on (i) ascospore isolates from tetrads segregating 2 resistant: 2 sensitive for oligomycin (Table 2) and (ii), spontaneously derived sensitive isolates of the oligomycin resistant strain (Tables 3 and 4). The observed pattern of resistance suggests that the gene for resistance to oligomycin also results in (i) cross resistance to rutamycin, venturicidin, triethyltin bromide, antimycin A, carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, tetra-N-butylammonium bromide, dibenzyl-dimethylammonium chlorop and tetracycline and (ii), collateral sensitivity to paromomycin, neomycin, dequalinium chloride, ethidium bromide and acriflavin.     

On the mechanism of action of alkylguanidines on oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria.

The effect of octylguanidine and oligomycin on the oxygen uptake of rat liver mitochondria and on the ATPase activity of "sonic" submitochondrial particles has been studied. 1. Octylguanidine inhibits state 3 respiration with glutamate-malate and succinate as substrates, but much lower concentrations are required to inhibit oxygen uptake with the former substrates. State 4 respiration is unaffected by octylguanidine. 2. The titration-curve for the octylguanidine inhibition of glutamate-malate oxidation is hyperbolic and apparently biphasic, half-maximal inhibition is obtained at 30 muM octylguanidine. The octylguanidine-curve for inhibition of succinate oxidation is sigmoid with half-maximal inhibition at about 250 muM. 3. Octylguanidine and oligomycin show additive inhibitory action on state 3 respiration with both glutamate plus malage and succinate as respiratory substrates. 4. Concentrations of oligomycin or octylguanidine, which added separately are ineffective on state 3 respiration, become inhibitory when the two inhibitors are added together. 5. Octylguanidine inhibits the ATPase activity of sonic submitochondrial particles with a hyperbolic titration-curve analogous to that obtained for oligomycin inhibition. The inhibitory actions of octylguanidine and oligomycin on the ATPase activity are additive. 6. It is concluded that octylguanidine acts directly on the ATPase complex and that its binding at the action site is mutually exclusive with the binding of oligomycin. A kinetic explanation is given for the reported higher sensitivity of site I phosphorylation to octylguanidine.     

Interaction of aurovertin with submitochondrial particles,deficient in ATPase inhibitor

1. Binding of aurovertin to submitochondrial particles deficient in ATPase inhibitor is accompanied by an enhancement of the fluorescence by at least 100-fold.2. This change in fluorescence proceeds in three phases. The slowest change may be due to a conformational change in F₁, induced by the antibiotic bound during the rapid phases, giving rise to an increase in the quantum yield of the bound fluorochrome.3. Phosphate and ATP quench the fluorescence of the particle-aurovertin complex and ADP enhances it; the rate and extent of these changes are dependent on the availability of free Mg²⁺.4. There is at least one binding site on the submitochondrial particles, where ATP, ADP and phosphate can bind reversibly and for which these ligands compete. These interactions are dependent on the availability of free Mg²⁺ and are partly sensitive to oligomycin.5. Binding studies reveal two binding sites for aurovertin on inhibitor-free particles, one with high affinity and one with a lower affinity. Ligands such as phosphate and ATP decrease both the quantum yield and the affinity of the particles for aurovertin. They also increase the total concentration of binding sites, and affect the relative contribution of weak and strong binding sites.6. A model is presented in which changes of the aurovertin fluorescence reflect conformational changes of the ATPase induced by its ligands.