The persistence length (LP) of a polymer is proportional to its flexural rigidity and quantifies the decay length of its tangent angle (for a polymer freely suspended in solution). Further, it has been suggested that the decay length for the sliding direction of heavy meromyosin (HMM) propelled actin filaments in the in vitro motility assay (IVMA) is quantitatively identical to Lp of the free leading filament end. On this assumption we measured LP under different conditions to address a hypothesis that the actin filament exists in different metastable conformations, each characterized by a different flexural rigidity. The following values for Lp (mean 5 95 % confidence limits) were obtained: 1. with phalloidin (Ph) in solution: 12.61 5 0.65 mm (N=809). 2. without Phin solution: 9.07 5 1.06 mm (N=811), 3. with Ph and HMM in solution (rigor):10.21 5 0.75 mm (N=429), 4. without Ph (from IVMA paths; 1 mM MgATP):10.0850.66 mm (N=309), 5. with Ph, IVMA (1 mM MgATP): 11.41 5 0.57 mm (N=243), 6. with Ph, IVMA, 0.05 mM MgATP: 6.30 5 0.27 mm (N=383) and 7. without Ph, IVMA, 0.02-0.05 mM MgATP: 5.33 5 0.37 mm (N=161). The re-sults are consistent with different actin filament states where one is stabilized by phalloidin and one is favored by HMM binding and the absence of Ph. Effects of HMM are consistent with a possible role of the structural state of actin filaments in effective actomyosin motility. The very low LP found for IVMA at low [MgATP] (6-7) may reflect the presence of an actin filament state populated at low average cross-bridge strains, possibly with MgADP at the active site. Alternatively, it may be due to sideways forces produced by increased number of HMM-actin interactions close to the leading filament end.