Human tissues contain two types of phosphomannomutase, PMM1 and PMM2. Mutations in the PMM2 gene are responsible for the most common form of carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome [Matthijs, Schollen, Pardon, Veiga-da-Cunha, Jaeken, Cassiman and Van Schaftingen (1997) Nat. Genet. 19, 88-92]. The protein encoded by this gene has now been produced in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity, and its properties have been compared with those of recombinant human PMM1. PMM2 converts mannose 1-phosphate into mannose 6-phosphate about 20 times more rapidly than glucose 1-phosphate to glucose 6-phosphate, whereas PMM1 displays identical Vmax values with both substrates. The Ka values for both mannose 1,6-bisphosphate and glucose 1,6-bisphosphate are significantly lower in the case of PMM2 than in the case of PMM1. Like PMM1, PMM2 forms a phosphoenzyme with the chemical characteristics of an acyl-phosphate. PMM1 and PMM2 hydrolyse different hexose bisphosphates (glucose 1,6-bisphosphate, mannose 1,6-bisphosphate, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate) at maximal rates of approximately 3.5 and 0.3% of their PMM activity, respectively. Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate does not activate PMM2 but causes a time-dependent stimulation of PMM1 due to the progressive formation of mannose 1,6-bisphosphate from fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and mannose 1-phosphate. Experiments with specific antibodies, kinetic studies and Northern blots indicated that PMM2 is the only detectable isozyme in most rat tissues except brain and lung, where PMM1 accounts for about 66 and 13% of the total activities, respectively.