Stopped-flow studies of magnesium and salt (potassium chloride and acetate) effects on yeast enolase were carried out by following 8-anilino-1 -naphthalenesulfonic acid fluorescence changes. The fluorescence changes appear to be largely caused by subunit association and dissociation, though there is evidence in some reactions for large changes in fluorescence occurring within the dead time of the stopped-flow measurements. These data are combined with measurements of initial enzyme activity after incubation in various solvents with or without magnesium to obtain subunit association and dissociation rates. From these, it is concluded that magnesium and the salts act by directly changing the affinities of the subunits for each other, apparently by producing a rapid change in protein conformation.Yeast enolase is a dimeric protein of identical subunits [l -31 which requires certain divalent cations, particularly magnesium, for activity [4]. The mechanism of activation by magnesium is complex: two moles of metal are bound with different dissociation constants in the absence of substrate, and two more in the presence of substrate [5]. Metal binding at the former two sites produces a conformational change in fully associated enzyme [5,6] and, in the case of partially dissociated enzyme, the most strongly-bound metal is also known to increase the extent of subunit association [l, 21 (i. e. decrease the dissociation equilibrium constant). In addition, high concentrations (% 1 M) of potassium acetate increase subunit association, and potassium chloride, at 1 M concentrations, promotes dissociation [l]. The effect of the anions is related to their position in the Hofmeister series of anions [7]. The two salts also appear to cause conformational changes in the enzyme [7], though the changes observed have been influenced by dissociation. It has been shown that these changes can be correlated with the fluorescence and extent of binding of the hydrophobic probe, 8-anilino-1 -naphthalene sulfonic acid (ansyl) Recently the effect of magnesium addition and removal on the enzyme has been studied using stoppedflow techniques [S]. In this study, advantage was taken of the fact that in Tris-HC1 of 0.05-0.1 M ionic strength, pH 8.0, magnesium causes a change in the absorption spectrum of the enzyme, with a maximum change of 296 nm. It was found that the metal bound to both monomeric and dimeric enzyme within the dead time of the stopped-flow. Association of monomers then occurred and after this, enzyme activity returned in a first-order reaction. That is:(neglecting the effect of the ligand). Here E,* is the active enzyme.On reaction of magnesium-enzyme with EDTA, the metal is removed within the dead time of the stopped-flow measurement. Following this, Brewer and DeSa observed a 296-nm absorbance change whose kinetics suggested a slow reaction followed by a faster one. The same kinetics were obtained whether or not subunit dissociation occurred, that is, the two reactions observed preceded any dissociation, i. e . , E,Mg = E, e E...