Conjugation of SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier 1) is a critical posttranslational modification, with significant impact on protein function/activity. Here, we describe direct SUMOylation of GST (glutathione S-transferase)-fusion protein and immunoprecipitation assays for investigating SUMOylation of any protein of interest. We have employed these methods to examine SUMOylation of the basic-motif leucine zipper transcription factor NRL.