Endo-phagocytic activity is prominent in Dictyostelium discoideum and makes it a good model organism to study the molecular organization of membrane traffic in this pathway. We have identified a syntaxin 7 homologue (26% identity and 54% similarity to human syntaxin 7) in Dictyostelium cDNA and genomic data banks. In addition to the Habc and H3 helices and the C-terminal transmembrane domain characteristic of syntaxins, this protein contains a repetitive N-terminal extension of 68 amino acids. We first showed that Dictyostelium syntaxin 7 was able to form a complex with N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein and ␣-and ␥-soluble Nethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein. Its intracellular localization was then studied by cell fractionation techniques and magnetic purification of the endocytic compartments. Most of D. discoideum syntaxin 7 is contained in endosomes. Finally, an in vitro endosome homotypic fusion assay (Laurent, O., Bruckert, F., Adessi, C., and Satre, M. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 793-799) was used to study a possible role for syntaxin 7 in this process. Purified anti-syntaxin 7 antibodies and a recombinant soluble fragment of syntaxin 7 both strongly inhibited fusion activity, indicating that this protein was necessary for endosome-endosome fusion. These results demonstrate the importance of this syntaxin 7 homologue in the early phases of Dictyostelium endo-phagocytic pathway.Intracellular membrane fusion is a complex and multistage process that requires pairing of specialized membrane proteins called SNAREs, 1 carried by both partners of the fusion reaction (1, 2). Three SNARE subfamilies, syntaxin, vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)/synaptobrevin, and SNAP-25, are conserved from yeast to man (3). The structural basis of SNARE pairing is due to the characteristic presence in each SNARE of at least one ␣-helix able to adopt a coiled-coil conformation in association with other SNAREs (4, 5). In neurons, a tripartite SNARE complex is formed from four parallel ␣-helices, one contributed by the syntaxin, one by the synaptobrevin, and two by SNAP-25 (6, 7).The most diverse and currently best known SNARE family is the syntaxin family. Specific syntaxins are present in almost every compartment undergoing membrane fusion, including endocytic compartments. Yeast syntaxins are organized in a sequential manner along the endocytic pathway, with Tlg1p and Tlg2p in early endosomes (8, 9), Pep12p in the pre-vacuolar compartment (10) and Vam3p in the vacuole (11,12). A similar spatial organization is also found in Arabidopsis thaliana, where the yeast syntaxin homologues AtPep12p and AtVam3p are present on the prevacuolar and vacuolar compartments, respectively (13,14). In mammalian cells that recycle plasma membrane receptors by endocytosis, syntaxin 7 is present in early (15, 16) and late endosomes, and its activity is required for efficient transport of internalized fluid-phase marker from early to late endosomes (17). In addition, syntaxin 7 is involved in the heterotypic fusion...