Incorporation of 35SO42- into adenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (APS), 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS), and chondroitin sulfate was simultaneously assessed with extracts prepared from epiphyseal cartilage of neonatal normal or homozygous brachymorphic mice. Radioactivity measured in APS, PAPS, and chondroitin sulfate of extracts from brachymorphic cartilage was approximately 300%, 9%, and 13% of the normal levels, respectively. Even though more APS accumulated in the mutant cartilage extracts, APS actually synthesized (total 35SO42- incorporated into APS, PAPS, and macromolecular products) was only 17% of that in the normal. However, of the amount synthesized, 90% and 55% of newly synthesized APS were converted to PAPS by cartilage extracts of normal and brachymorphic mice, respectively. Specific assays for ATP sulfurylase (sulfate adenylyltransferase; ATP:sulfate adenylyltransferase, EC 2.7.7.4) and APS kinase (adenylylsulfate kinase; ATP:adenylylsulfate 3'-phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.25) showed that the sulfurylase enzyme activity is reduced to approximately 1/2 and the kinase to approxomately 1/14 in brachymorphic mice. These results suggest that the production of an undersulfated proteoglycan in brachymorphic cartilage results from a defective conversion of APS to PAPS.