Preparations of isolated rat jejunal enterocyte and brush-border and basolateral membrane vesicles have been used to study the effects of a 15 min exposure of upper and mid-villus enterocytes to pancreatic glucagon on the initial, unidirectional phlorhizin-sensitive (brush border) transport of galactose and phlorhizin-insensitive (basolateral) movement of the sugar. These acute effects of glucagon have been compared with responses following treatment of animals for 1 or 3 days with the hormone. Incubation of cells with glucagon significantly stimulated phlorhizin-sensitive uptake by 42 and 64% for upper and mid-villus cells, respectively. Glucagon, however, was without effect on phlorhizin-insensitive galactose uptake. This differential action of the hormone at the two cellular loci was confirmed by uptake data obtained using purified brush-border and basolateral membrane vesicles prepared from isolated cells. In contrast to the acute challenge with glucagon, treatment of animals for 3 days with the hormone significantly increased both phlorizin-sensitive (upper villus +31%, mid-villus +74%) and phlorizin-insensitive (upper villus +42%, mid-villus +53%) galactose uptake. Glucagon exposure of exposure of isolated cells from 3 days treated animals was without further effect on galactose uptake at the two membrane loci. These data represent the first evidence for a direct action of pancreatic glucagon on enterocyte sugar transport. Thus the hormone is likely to be important in the physiological control of sugar absorption in addition to its possible role in the modulation of transport during starvation and diabetes mellitus, conditions characterized by hyperglucanonaemia and enhanced intestinal sugar transport.