Genetic studies of leucine biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

The mutations in a series of leucine auxotrophs isolated after treatment with nitrosoguanidine, ultraviolet light, and ICR 191 have been mapped between ilvC and pheA on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. A fine structure map of the region was constructed by transformation. Analysis of several strains by assaying levels of their leucine biosynthetic enzymes has shown that the region encodes three enzymes. The order of the genes with respect to the biosynthetic steps catalyzed by the gene products in 1-3-2.