1. The modulation of the action potential by the cytosolic Ca2+ (Cai2+) transient was studied in single isolated rat ventricular myocytes loaded with the acetoxymethyl ester form of the Ca(2+)-sensitive fluorescent dye Indo-1. Stimulation following rest and exposure to ryanodine were used to change the amount of Ca2+ released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and thus the size of the Cai2+ transient. The Cai2+ transient was measured as the change, upon stimulation, in the ratio of Indo-1 fluorescence at 410 nm to that at 490 nm (410/490) and action potentials or membrane currents were recorded using patch-type microelectrodes. 2. When stimulation was initiated following rest, the magnitude of the Cai2+ transient decreased in a beat-dependent manner until a steady state was reached. The negative staircase in the Cai2+ transient was accompanied by a similar beat-dependent decrease in the duration of the action potential, manifested primarily as a gradual loss of the action potential plateau (approximately -45 mV). A slow terminal phase of repolarization of a few millivolts in amplitude was found to parallel the terminal decay of the Cai2+ transient. 3. The terminal portion of phase-plane loops of membrane potential (Vm) vs. Indo-1 ratio from all of the beats of a stimulus train followed a common linear trajectory even though the individual beats differed markedly in the duration and amplitude of the action potential and Cai2+ transient. 4. When the stimulation dependence of the Cai2+ transient was titrated away with submaximal exposure to ryanodine, the stimulation-dependent changes in the action potential plateau and terminal phase of repolarization were also eliminated. The same effect was noted in cells which, fortuitously, did not show a staircase in the Cai2+ transient following a period of rest. 5. When action potentials were triggered immediately following spontaneous release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which results in a small depolarization at the resting potential, phase-plane loops (Vm vs. Indo-1 ratio) of the spontaneous events followed the same linear trajectory as the terminal phase of repolarization in the loops of the stimulated beats. 6. Following repolarization from brief voltage clamp pulses (to minimize time and voltage-dependent currents associated with depolarization), an inward current was observed that rose and fell in phase with the Cai2+ transient. This current was present at -70 mV, near the resting potential, and at -40 mV, a potential relevant to the plateau of the action potential.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)