2,2,2-Trichloroethyl 3,4-dichlorocarbanilate (SW26) is toxic for Acer pseudoplatanus cell cultures. It inhibited the cellular proton extrusion and depolarized the plasmalemma. In vitro, it inhibited the plasma membrane ATPase. SW 26 was also inhibitory to membrane ATPases of other origins-plant (maize shoot), fungus (Schizosaccharomyces pombe), and animal (dog kidney)-with about the same efficiency (7.5 micromolar < I(50) < 22 micromolar). It did not inhibit the oligomycin-sensitive ATPase from purified plant mitochondria, nor molybdate-sensitive soluble phosphatases. SW26 was more specific for plasma membrane ATPases than diethylstilbestrol or vanadate. A Lineweaver-Burk plot analysis showed that inhibition kinetics were purely noncompetitive (K(i) = 14.7 micromolar) below 20 micromolar. Above this concentration, the inhibition pattern was not consistent with Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and a Hill plot representation revealed a positive cooperativity.