The binding of peptide antitumor antibiotics, BBM-928A and echinomycin, to superhelical PM2 DNA and the effects of the resulting conformational changes of DNA on the DNA-degradative activity of two related antitumor antibiotics, bleomycin A2 and phleomycin D1, have been studied. The bifunctional intercalative mode of the DNA binding of BBM-928A concluded previously from viscometric and fluorometric studies has been confirmed by gel electrophoretic analysis. Under the employed electrophoretic conditions, DNA-bound BBM-928A showed little dissociation whereas echinomycin and ethidium bromide showed partial and nearly complete dissociation, respectively. BBM-928A induced neither single-strand nor double-strand breaks in DNA. Competitive binding studies by fluorescence changes suggested that binding sites on DNA molecules for BBM-928A (or echinomycin) may differ from those for ethidium bromide, since binding to DNA by the two drugs was not competitive even at saturating concentrations. The lack of such a competition between the two drugs is not consistent with the neighbor-exclusion principle. The DNA-degradative activity of both bleomycin A2 and phleomycin D1 increased with the removal of the negative superhelicity of DNA by the BBM-928A intercalation and decreased with the formation of positive superhelical turns induced by high concentrations of BBM-928A. Thus the degradative activity of both bleomycin A2 and phleomycin D1 is sensitive in a similar manner to the degree of superhelicity rather than the double helicity of DNA, although there are differences between these two drugs in interaction with DNA.