Pertussis toxin, the major toxin produced by Bordetella pertussis, catalyzes the ADP-ribosylation of a specific membrane polypeptide which appears to be involved in regulation of the catalytic subunit of adenylate cyclase. In the current study, a rapid purification procedure has been developed for the preparation of pertussis toxin in high yields. Through the sequential use of the affinity matrices Affi-Gel blue and fetuin-Sepharose 4B, milligram quantities of apparently homogeneous toxin can be prepared from the culture supernatants of B. pertussis strain 165. Structural, amino acid, and immunologic analyses indicate that toxin prepared from strain 165 is indistinguishable from toxin prepared from other strains. Activation of the ADP-ribosyltransferase activity requires treatment of the toxin with a thiol reducing agent. This activation appears to be associated with the reduction of intrachain disulfide bonds present in the catalytic subunit. Activated toxin preparations catalyzed ADP-ribosylation of a protein (Mr = 40,000) present in cell membrane preparations obtained from human red blood cells and platelets, rat adipocytes, and cyc- S49 cells which are deficient in the adenylate cyclase regulatory component which is the substrate for cholera toxin.