Polyamine levels in the male and female cells as well as DNA methyltransferase activity in the female cells during gametogenesis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii indicated that both spermidine and spermine levels were decreased while DNA methyltransferase activity was markedly increased about 12 hours after the onset of gametogenesis. In vitro, putrescine and spermine at 1 mM inhibited methylation of chloroplasts DNA isolated from vegetative female cells by 35% and 65%, respectively. Spermine was found to be more inhibitory than putrescine at all concentrations tested. The pattern of the inhibition by polyamines appeared different from that caused by cations. The results obtained in this work suggest that the polyamine inhibition of DNA methylation is due to an action of polyamines on the enzyme involved instead of on the DNA itself.