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A number of different alkylating chemotherapeutic agents--busulphan, dimethylbusulphan (DMB), isopropylmethane sulphonate (IMS), melphalan, cyclophosphamide (CY) and bischloroethylnitrosourea (BCNU)--were investigated for their cytotoxic effects on different haemopoietic cell populations in host mice and for their ability to induce short- and long-term engraftment of transplanted bone marrow. At 24 h after drug treatment the femoral content of transient and permanent repopulating stem cell subsets was assessed, respectively, from the frequency of early- (day 5-15) and late- (day 25-35) developing cobblestone area-forming cells (CAFCs), growing in vitro in long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMCs). At this time a fixed complement of 10(7) congenically marked donor bone marrow cells (B6-Gpi-1a-->B6-Gpi-1b) was infused in the drug-treated mice and erythroid engraftment was followed over 36 weeks. Diverse effects on early- and late-developing CAFC frequencies were found for the different drugs; these were generally related to the pattern of donor bone marrow engraftment in treated recipients. Melphalan was more toxic to early-developing than to late-developing CAFC subsets, and the transplant only offered an early wave of blood chimerism followed by return of host cells. CY and BCNU had minimal to moderate effects on CAFC content and engraftment with no apparent preference for any particular haemopoietic cell subset. IMS also had a relatively low toxic effect on host marrow CAFC frequencies but appeared exceptional in its ability to allow for more donor-type engraftment. The dimethane sulphonate compounds busulphan and DMB were especially potent at depleting late CAFC subsets and ensured high and lasting levels of donor bone marrow engraftment. These studies support the value of CAFC measurements for predicting the fate and growth of transplanted bone marrow cells in recipients pretreated with a variety of cytotoxic agents.