The roles of the phosphorylation (phosphorylated enzyme intermediate) and nucleotide binding domains in calcium transport were studied by comparing acetyl phosphate and ATP as substrates for the Ca2+-ATPase of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles. We found that the maximal level of phosphoenzyme obtained with either substrate is approximately 4 nmol/mg of protein, corresponding to the stoichiometry of catalytic sites in our preparation. The initial burst of phosphoenzyme formation observed in the transient state, following addition of either substrate, is accompanied by internalization of 2 mol of calcium per mole of phosphoenzyme. The internalized calcium is then translocated with a sequential pattern, independent of the substrate used. Following a rate-limiting step, the phosphoenzyme undergoes hydrolytic cleavage and proceeds to the steady-state activity which is soon "back inhibited" by the rise of Ca2+ concentration in the lumen of the vesicles. When the "back inhibition" is released by the addition of oxalate, substrate utilization and calcium transport occur with a ratio of 1:2, independent of the substrate and its concentration. When the nucleotide binding site is derivatized with FITP, the enzyme can still utilize acetyl phosphate (but not ATP) for calcium transport. No secondary activation of acetyl phosphate utilization by the FITC-enzyme was obtained with millimolar nucleotide. These observations demonstrate that the basic coupling mechanism of catalysis and calcium transport involves the phosphorylation and calcium binding domains, and not the nucleotide binding domain.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)