Magnesium-limited chemostat cultures of Klebsiella pneumoniae NCTC 418 with 20 microM CaCl2 in the medium showed a low rate of gluconate plus 2-ketogluconate production relative to potassium- or phosphate-limited cultures. However, when the medium concentration of CaCl2 was increased to 1 mM, the glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) activities also increased and became similar to those observed in potassium- or phosphate limited cultures. It is concluded that this is due to Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions being involved in the binding of pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) to the GDH apoenzyme. There seems to be an absolute requirement of divalent cations for proper enzyme functioning and in this respect Ca2+ ions could replace Mg2+ ions. The high GDH activity which has been found in cells grown under Mg2(+)-limited conditions in the presence of higher concentrations of Ca2+ ions, is compatible with the earlier proposal that GDH functions as an auxiliary energy generating system involved in the maintenance of high transmembrane ion gradients.