Over a 21-d period, 400 [four rats/level, 10 levels/amino acid, 10 indispensable amino acids (IAA)] male weanling rats (65.9 +/- 0.3 g; mean +/- SEM) were fed diets with one of 10 levels of each of the 10 IAA. In addition, four rats were fed an amino acid-free diet and 16 rats were killed on d 0 for individual body composition. With the exception of the limiting amino acid (LAA), an increment (35% of the requirement) of each IAA was added to the mixture to insure that the LAA remained first limiting. A four-parameter logistic equation was used to describe the nitrogen and weight gain responses of rats to each IAA. Conservation of nitrogen, defined as a predicted y-intercept value greater than the value observed for rats fed an amino acid-free diet (-0.304 +/- 0.023 g N/21 d), was seen when diets devoid of total aromatic amino acids or lysine (-0.062 +/- 0.013 g N/21 d) or histidine, leucine, tryptophan or valine (-0.115 +/- 0.011 g N/21 d) were fed. When total sulfur amino acids were first limiting, diminishing returns (a decrease in the first derivative) was evident from zero intake to Rmax (estimated asymptotic response maximum). In contrast, when other IAA were limiting, diminishing returns were apparent after approximately the first third of the full response. Based on the first derivative of the response curves, the efficiency of nitrogen gain depends on the LAA. The dietary LAA would be expected to influence the shape of the response curve and therefore influence the quantitative aspects of diminishing returns.