Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (EC 4.1.1.31) was purified to homogeneity with about 29% recovery from immature pods of chickpea using ammonium sulfate fractionation, DEAE-cellulose chromatography, and gel filtration through Sephadex G-200. The purified enzyme with molecular weight of about 200,000 daltons was a tetramer of four identical subunits and exhibited maximum activity at pH 8.1. Mg(2+) ions were specifically required for the enzyme activity. The enzyme showed typical hyperbolic kinetics with phosphoenolpyruvate with a K(m) of 0.74 millimolar, whereas sigmoidal response was observed with increasing concentrations of HCO(3) (-) with S(0.5) value as 7.6 millimolar. The enzyme was activated by inorganic phosphate and phosphate esters like glucose-6-phosphate, alpha-glycerophosphate, 3-phosphoglyceric acid, and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, and inhibited by nucleotide triphosphates, organic acids, and divalent cations Ca(2+) and Mn(2+). Oxaloacetate and malate inhibited the enzyme noncompetitively. Glucose-6-phosphate reversed the inhibitory effects of oxaloacetate and malate.