Recently, the prototype of a novel class of calcium-independent plasmalogen-selective phospholipase A2 activities was identified in the cytosolic fraction of canine myocardium (Wolf, R.A., and Gross, R.W. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 7295-7303) and subsequently purified and characterized (Hazen, S.L., Stuppy, R.J., and Gross, R.W. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 10622-10630). We now demonstrate that 15 min of myocardial ischemia utilizing a rabbit Langendorf perfused heart model results in a 10-fold increase in membrane-associated calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity whose detection is entirely dependent upon utilization of plasmalogen substrate. Ischemia-induced phospholipase activity was identified as a membrane bound member of this class of phospholipases A2 by demonstration of: 1) concomitant production of lysoplasmenylcholine and sn-2 fatty acid from plasmenylcholine substrate; 2) maximal enzymatic activity in the absence of calcium ion; and 3) a 16-fold higher maximum reaction velocity utilizing plasmenylcholine compared to phosphatidylcholine substrate at multiple surface concentrations. Ischemia-induced phospholipase A2 activity was specifically localized to the microsomal fraction and could not be solubilized by sonication, salt treatment, exposure to chelators, or utilization of submicellar concentrations of detergent. The appearance of microsomal phospholipase A2 activity did not require ischemia-induced transcription or translation since identical increases in enzymic activity were obtained in hearts previously treated with actinomycin D and cycloheximide. Collectively, these results demonstrate that a membrane-associated calcium-independent phospholipase A2 that selectively hydrolyzes plasmalogen molecular species is the likely enzymic mediator of accelerated phospholipid catabolism during early myocardial ischemia.