pH-induced hysteretic transitions of ovoperoxidase.  Ovoperoxidase, the enzyme that catalyzes the dityrosine cross-linking of fertilization membranes of eggs from the sea urchin Stronglyocentrotus purpuratus, exhibits slow changes in catalytic activity upon alterations of pH, with attendant changes in spectral properties. For ovoperoxidase pre-equilibratated at pH 8, abrupt decreases in pH are accompanied by a slow loss in activity that is temporally associated with a change in absorbance at the Soret band. With enzyme pre-equilibrated at pH 4.5 and then shifted to higher pH, there was a slow increase in catalytic activity following a rapid change in the Soret band absorbance. These changes were reversible and led to the same equilibrium state, regardless of the direction of pH shift. The rate of approach to the equilibrium state of ovoperoxidase was independent of enzyme concentration, the presence of substrates, or temperature (from 6.5 to 39.7 degrees C). The pH-induced interconversions of catalytic and spectral properties indicate that ovoperoxidase undergoes hysteretic transitions, in which alterations in the heme environment accompany, but are not sufficient for, the expression of catalytic activity. We present a kinetic mechanism for the hysteretic relaxations and suggest how these transitions may have relevance to the assembly of the fertilization membrane in vivo.