A protein phosphokinase (EC 2.7.1.1.37) was isolated from baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) after a 17,000-fold purification; the purified enzyme is homogeneous according to the criteria of gel electrophoresis and ultracentrifuge analysis. The enzyme has a high isoelectric point of ca. 9 and appears to exist as a monomer with a molecular weight of 42,000 plus or minus 1500. It is neither stimulated by cyclic 3',5'-AMP, -GMP, -CMP or -ump nor inhibited by the regulatory subunit of rabbit muscle protein kinase (Reimann, E. M., Walsh, D. A., and Krebs, E. G. (1971), J. Biol. Chem. 246, 1986). In the presence of divalent metal ions, preferably Mg-2+ or Mn-2+, the enzyme readily transfers the terminal phosphate group of ATP to phosvitin, alphaS1B- and beta a-casein and an NH2-terminal tryptic peptide derived from beta a-casein, but not to protamine, lysine, or arginine-rich histones or to yeast enzymes such as phosphorylase, phosphofructokinase, or pyruvate carboxylase; serine and polyserine were also inactive as phosphate acceptors. Km values of 0.17 mM for beta a-casein and 0.2 mMfor ATP were determined at 10 mM Mg-2+. The urified yeast protein kinase also catalyzes the reverse reaction, namely, the transfer of phosphate from fully phosphorylated beta a-casein or its NH2-terminal peptide to ADP resulting in the formation of ATP. AMP, GDP, UDP, and CDP did not serve as phosphate acceptors in this reaction. As observed by Rabinowitz and Lipmann (Rabinowitz, M., and Lipmann, F. (1960), J. Biol. Chem. 235, 1043) both reactions have different pHoptima with values of 7.5 for the forward reaction (phosphorylation of the proteins) and ca 5.2 for the formation of ATP; both are differently affected by salts. Phosphorylation of beta a-casein with [gamma-32-P]ATP followed by digestion of the labeled protein with trypsin indicated that all the radioactivity was exclusively introduced in an NH2-terminal peptide possessing the unique sequence: Glu-Ser(P)-Leu-Ser(P)-Ser(P)-Ser(P)-Glu-Glu...(Ribadeau-Dumas, B., Brignon, G., Grosclaude, F., and Mercier, J.-C. (1971), eur J. Biochem. 20, 264). By subjecting beta a-casein and its NH2-terminal peptide to the combined action of almond acid phosphatease and purified yeast protein kinase, it was determined that the phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions proceed randomly, i.e., all seryl phosphate residues are equally susceptible and that the rate of phosphorylation decreases drastically as the number of bound phosphate groups in the substrate diminishes.