The dicarboxylate carrier from rat liver mitochondria was purified by the Amberlite/hydroxyapatite procedure and reconstituted in egg yolk phospholipid vesicles by removing the detergent with Amberlite. The efficiency of reconstitution was optimized with respect to the ratio of detergent/phospholipid, the concentration of phospholipid and the number of Amberlite column passages. In the reconstituted system the incorporated dicarboxylate carrier catalyzed a first-order reaction of malate/phosphate exchange. V of the reconstituted malate/phosphate exchange was determined to be 6000 mumol/min per g protein at 25 degrees C. This value was independent of the type of substrate present at the external or internal space of the liposomes (malate, phosphate or malonate). The half-saturation constant was 0.49 mM for malate, 0.54 mM for malonate and 1.41 mM for phosphate. The activation energy of the exchange reaction was determined to be 95.8 kJ/mol. The transport was independent of the external pH in the range between pH 6 and 8.