Artificial casein micelles were prepared at a casein concentration of 2-5% with 10-40 niM-Ca, 12-27 mM-phosphate and 10 mM-citrate and cross-linking of casein by colloidal Ca phosphate (CCP) was examined. No casein aggregates crosslinked by CCP were formed at 10 mM-Ca, 12 mM-phosphate and 10 mM-citrate, which are the approximate concentrations found in the soluble phase of bovine milk. Although the amounts of casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP and of colloidal inorganic phosphate increased with increasing Ca and phosphate concentrations, the effect was not uniform. The incorporation rates of individual casein constituents into casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP were in the order a s2 -> a sl -> /?-casein. This was the reverse of the order of dissociation rates during dialysis of casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP reported previously.Bovine casein micelles are roughly spherical colloidal particles of 20-600 nm diam., which are heterogeneous in constitution (Schmidt, 1982). They are composed of 93 % casein and 7 % inorganic constituents. The main inorganic constituent of casein micelles is colloidal Ca phosphate (CCP). Direct experimental evidence for this has been obtained by Aoki et al. (1986), who isolated casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP from bovine casein micelles by high-performance gel chromatography on a TSK-GEL G4000SW column in the presence of 6 M-urea. It has also been shown that caseins are cross-linked through their ester phosphate groups by CCP (Aoki et al. 19876).Bovine caseins are synthesized in the mammary gland and micelle formation occurs in the Golgi vesicles. It is assumed that casein submicelles are aggregated into micelles by CCP formed by transformation of Ca, phosphate and other inorganic constituents from cytosol to the Golgi vesicles (Schmidt, 1982;Holt, 1985). However, the formation of cross-linkages between casein molecules and CCP in the bioassembly of casein micelles has not yet been elucidated sufficiently.In a previous study (Aoki et al. 1988) we examined the dissociation during dialysis of casein aggregates cross-linked by CCP in bovine micelles, and elucidated that the dissociation rates of individual casein constituents were in the order /?-> a sl -> a s2 -casein. The higher the ester phosphate content, the slower was the dissociation rate of individual casein constituents. These facts suggested that the strength of the bonding between casein molecules and CCP depended on the ester phosphate content.