Low-temperature electron spin resonance spectroscopy has been used to study the biophysical properties of succinate dehydrogenase from the gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus luteus. The paramagnetic redox centres of the enzyme were identified in a succinate-dehydrogenase-antigen complex, which had been purified with the aid of monospecific serum from membranes solubilized with Triton X-I 00. The centres were characterized in further detail using the membrane-bound and Triton-solubilized forms of the enzyme. These studies distinguished two types of iron-sulphur centres, viz. a [4Fe-4SJ3+ cluster displaying a narrow signal at g = 2.01 in the oxidized state (conventionally termed centre S-3) and a [2Fe-2S] cluster with an axial signal at g = 2.03 and 1.93 in the reduced state (conventionally termed centre S-1).Centre S-3 had a mid-point redox potential of + 10 mV, a comparatively low value for this type of cluster. The behaviour of the g = 1.93 signal of centre S-I was a complex function of the redox potential, microwave power and temperature of measurement. When measured at low power (i.e. non-saturating conditions), the intensities observed for the g = 1.93 signal poised at various critical potentials in the redox titration were similar. However, the corresponding intensities differed markedly at high power, where conditions were saturating. It is proposed that under saturating conditions the spin-lattice relaxation of the [2Fe-2S] cluster S-I (mid-point potential + 70 mV) is enhanced by centre S-3 between the potential range + 10 -+ 70 mV and by an ESR-silent centre, termed centre S-2, with a mid-point potential of -295 mV.The paramagnetic centres of respiratory enzymes such as the metallo-flavoprotein succinate dehydrogenase can be analyzed conveniently by low-temperature electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy [I]. The succinate dehydrogenases from mammalian, plant and yeast mitochondria as well as from photosynthetic bacteria have been examined in detail by this method [l -71. However, there have been no analogous studies on purified preparations of other bacterial succinate dehydrogenases. At least in part, this can be attributed to problems inherent in the purification of the enzyme from the membrane [8]. We have circumvented some of these problems recently, and have succeeded in isolating a succinate-dehydrogenaseantigen complex from the membranes of Micrococcus luteus 19, 101 and Escherichiu coli [I 1, 121 by selective precipitation with specific anti-(succinate dehydrogenase) immunoglobulins.In terms of its molecular properties, the M . luteus succinate dehydrogenase shares many of the features observed for similar enzymes isolated from other bacteria and from eukaryotic cells [8,13]. The precipitated enzyme contains equimolar amounts of four polypeptides, with relative molecular masses of 72, 30, 17 and 15 kDa. The 72-kDa polypeptide is known to be covalently linked to a flavin prosthetic group. In addition, the antigen complex contains non-haem iron and a h-type cytochrome (cytochrome b-556, [lo])....