Studies on membrane vesicles from the kidney of Leucoraja erinacea suggested the sole presence of a sodium-D-glucose cotransporter type 1 involved in renal D-glucose reabsorption. For molecular characterization of this transport system an mRNA library was screened with primers directed against conserved regions of human sglt1. A cDNA was cloned whose nucleotide and derived amino acid sequence revealed high homology to SGLT1. Xenopus laevis oocytes injected with the respective cRNA showed sodium-dependent high-affinity uptake of D-glucose. Many positions considered functionally essential for SGLT1 are also found in the skate protein. High conservation preferentially in transmembrane helices and small linking loops suggests early appearance and continued preservation of these regions. Larger loops, especially loop 13, that is associated with phlorizin-binding were more variable, as is the interaction with the specific inhibitor in various species. To study the intrarenal distribution of the transporter a skate SGLT1-specific antibody was generated. In cryosections of skate kidney various nephron segments could be differentiated by lectin-staining. Immuno-reaction with the antibody was observed in the proximal tubule segments PIa and PIIa, the early distal tubule, and the collecting tubule. Thus, Leucoraja, in contrast to the mammalian kidney, employs only SGLT1 to reabsorb D-glucose in the early as well as in the late segments of the proximal tubule and probably also in the late distal tubule. Thereby it differs also partly from the kidney of the close relative Squalus acanthias, which uses SGLT2 in more distal proximal tubule segments but shows also expression in the later nephron parts.