The properties of the Ca2+ transport system of mitochondria, isolated in various phases of growth of static cultures of Tetrahymena pyriformis, were studied. A large increase in the endogenous energy-dependent Ca2+ content of mitochondria was observed as cultures of T. pyriformis passed through the exponential and stationary phases of growth (approx. 0.25 and 50 nmol Ca2+ per mg mitochondrial protein, respectively). Simultaneously, the mitochondria dramatically lost their ability to withstand large concentrations of Ca2+ and ADP. However, in the latter case they were able to phosphorylate a large amount of ADP if the strong Ca2+ chelator, ethylene glycol bis-(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, was initially present in the incubation medium. Furthermore, all the changes observed in mitochondria from the stationary phase cells were completely reversed when cell proliferation was re-activated after the lag phase, either by reseeding the stationery cells in fresh growth medium or by oxygenation of the old medium. In aerobic conditions even a small addition of Ca2+ was able to induce rapid release of Ca2+ from mitochondria isolated during the stationary phase of growth. It is suggested that the redistribution of Ca2+ between the mitochondria and the cytoplasm at the onset of the lag phase may serve as the main trigger for the subsequent biochemical and morphological changes observed in T. pyriformis.