One of the major pathogenic factors of Aeromonas salmonicida, the bacterium causing furunculosis in fish, is considered to be a protease secreted in the extracellular products. This protease can be inhibited by normal trout and rabbit serum but the factor responsible has not hitherto been identified. The present results demonstrate that the A. salmonicida protease is inhibited by the alpha 2-macroglobulin of rainbow trout serum. This inhibitor accounts for about 9% of the total trypsin inhibiting capacity of trout serum, is alpha-migrating in electrophoresis, is moderately stable on storage at -20 degrees C, is destroyed by heating at 45 degrees C, has no requirement for cations and is inactivated by methylamine. The A. salmonicida protease is resistant to inhibition by 91.9% of the total trout serum trypsin inhibitors, without inactivating them, and to human alpha 1-antiproteinase. It is proposed that trout alpha 2M may have a defensive function against furunculosis but the resistance of the bacterial protease to inhibition by the majority of the serum protease inhibitors may represent pathogenic adaptation.