Monensin, an inhibitor of Golgi function, was used to investigate the role of this cell compartment in the glycosylation of Leishmania donovani promastigote secretory acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2). Monensin-treated cells demonstrated morphological changes in the Golgi complex and secreted enzyme with an altered electrophoretic mobility: two discrete bands of approximately 95 and 110 kDa were found, as compared to the heterodisperse nature of the enzyme from untreated controls. Chemical deglycosylation by mild acid hydrolysis resulted in a similar effect on the electrophoretic mobility of purified extracellular enzyme. Acid phosphatase was also treated with N-glycosidase F (EC 3.5.1.52) to remove N-linked oligosaccharides. The altered lectin-binding properties of the enzyme after these two treatments demonstrated that an unusual type of galactose-containing acid-labile carbohydrate was present in secretory acid phosphatase in addition to the N-linked oligosaccharides. Further, experiments with 32P-labelled enzyme indicated that phosphodiester bonds were the structural component responsible for the sensitivity of this carbohydrate to mild acid hydrolysis. Cumulatively, these results demonstrated that a novel form of Golgi-mediated posttranslational modification had occurred to the secretory acid phosphatase presumably by the addition of an acid-labile phosphoglycan.