Chemotactic factor-enriched butanol extracts from Escherichia coli culture filtrates were fractionated and purified by high pressure liquid chromatography. The yield from individual fractions of biological activity (lysosomal enzyme secretion) and antigenic activity (competition with [3H]fMet-Leu-Phe for binding to rabbit anti-fMet-Leu-Phe) revealed an average 50% recovery of original material. Five peaks of biological activity were separated as demonstrated by enzyme-releasing activity. Three of these peaks coincided exactly with peaks of antigenic activity, suggesting that at least 3 and as many as 5 distinct formyl-methionyl peptides had been separated. The majority of recovered activity appeared in peak 3 and represented 70% of the total biological and antigenic activities recovered. The five peak fractions were subsequently analyzed by dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (DCP/GC-MS) to determine amino acid sequences. After digestion, the formyl-Met peptide was demonstrated in only one of the five peak fractions (peak 3). Furthermore, both the GC retention times and mass spectra indicated that peak 3 contained formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine. The DCP/GC and MS data were confirmed with tests made on authentic fMet-Leu-Phe. Butanol extracts from E. coli filtrates to which were added synthetic fMet-Leu-Phe resulted in increased biological and antigenic activity in the precise high pressure liquid chromatography fractions of peak 3 where the fMet-Leu-Phe produced by E. coli was found. Finally, the analysis of recovered biological and antigenic activities indicated that the formyl peptides were found in nanomolar concentrations in culture filtrates. These results demonstrate that the NH2-terminal formyl peptides produced by E. coli, of which formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine appears to be the major component, are the peptide mediators responsible for leukocyte chemotactic activity in the bacterial culture extracts.