Membrane energization by ATP has been measured in vesicles containing purified bovine heart mitochondrial H+-ATPase (ATP synthase) with the voltage-sensitive dye oxonol VI. The dithiol chelator, Cd2+, and the thiol oxidant, copper o-phenanthroline, produced discharge of the membrane potential when added at the steady state and inhibited its establishment when added prior to energization by ATP. These effects, which were reversed by dithiothreitol, were not accompanied by an increase in the nonspecific H+ permeability of the membrane. Passive H+ conduction in proteoliposomes containing F0 (hydrophobic segment of ATP synthase) was assayed by the quenching of 9-aminoacridine fluorescence after establishing a K+ diffusion potential. This conductance was blocked by Cd2+, an inhibitor of coupling factor B (FB). Labeling of F0 with 115Cd2+ at the concentrations that inhibited the F0 conductance followed by gel electrophoresis yielded a single radioactive band with a molecular weight corresponding to FB, the presence of which in the F0 preparation was confirmed by immunoblot staining. The data offer strong evidence that FB is an essential component of the H+ channel of F0, because H+ conduction through the channel is inhibited by chemical modification of FB.