Repression of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12

Mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 were isolated in which the synthesis of the following, normally repressible enzymes of aromatic biosynthesis was constitutive: 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetases (phe and tyr), chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A. In the wild type, DAHP synthetase (phe) was multivalently repressed by phenylalanine plus tryptophan, whereas DAHP synthetase (tyr), chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A were repressed by tyrosine. DAHP synthetase (tyr) and chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase were also repressed by phenylalanine in high concentration (10(-3)m). Besides the constitutive synthesis of DAHP synthetase (phe), the mutants had the same phenotype as strains mutated in the tyrosine regulatory gene tyrR. The mutations causing this phenotype were cotransducible with trpA, trpE, cysB, and pyrF and mapped in the same region as tyrR at approximately 26 min on the chromosome. It is concluded that these mutations may be alleles of the tyrR gene and that synthesis of the enzymes listed above is controlled by this gene. Chorismate mutase P and prephenate dehydratase activities which are carried on a single protein were repressed by phenylalanine alone and were not controlled by tyrR. Formation of this protein is presumed to be controlled by a separate, unknown regulator gene. The heat-stable phenylalanine transaminase and two enzymes of the common aromatic pathway, 5-dehydroquinate synthetase and 5-dehydroquinase, were not repressible under the conditions studied and were not affected by tyrR. DAHP synthetase (trp) and tryptophan synthetase were repressed by tryptophan and have previously been shown to be under the control of the trpR regulatory gene. These enzymes also were unaffected by tyrR.     

Regulatory control of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase in Streptomyces antibioticus

Streptomyces antibioticus possesses a tryptophan-inhibitable 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase whose synthesis is also repressed by L-tryptophan. Studies of the DAHP synthetase obtained by ammonium sulfate fractionation of a crude extract derived from S. Antibioticus revealed that the enzymic activity was only partially inhibited by tryptophan. Inhibition of the DAHP synthetase activity was strongly pH dependent at values below 7.0. A number of tryptophan analogues was noted to inhibit the enzyme; by contrast, other aromatic amino acid end products failed to affect DAHP synthetase activity. Chorismic acid, a key intermediate in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, was ineffective as an inhibitor when used alone; however, if supplied with L-tryptophan, a further reduction of DAHP synthetase activity (15--25%) was routinely observed.     

Regulation of tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Salmonella.

Several types of 4-fluorophenylalanine resistant mutants were isolated. In one type of mutant DAHP synthetase (tyr) and prephenate dehydrogenase were coordinately derepressed. The mutation was linked to aroF and tyrA and was cis- dominant by merodiploid analysis, thus confirming that it is an operator constitutive mutation (tyrOc). A second type of mutation showed highly elevated levels of tyrosine pathway enzymes which were not repressed by L-tyrosine. It was unlinked to tyrA and aroF, and was trans-recessive in merodiploids. These properties were attributed to a mutation in a regulator gene, tyrR (linked to pyr F), that resulted in altered or non-functional aporepressor. Hence tyrO, tyrA, and aroF constitute an operon regulated by tyrR. In a third type of mutation chorismate mutase P-prephenate dehydratase was highly elevated. It was not linked to pheA, was located in the 95--100 min region of the Salmonella chromosome, and was recessive to the wild type gene in merodiploids. A mutation was, therefore, indicated in a regulatory gene, pheR, which specified an aporepressor for regulating pheA. DAHP synthetase (phe), specified by aroG, was not regulated by pheR, but was derepressed in one of the tyrR mutants, suggesting that as in Escherichia coli tyrR may regulate DAHP synthetase(phe) and DAHP synthetase (tyr) with the same aporepressor. A novel mutation in chorismate mutase is described.     

Enzymatic Basis for Overproduction of Tryptophan and Its Metabolites in Hansenula polymorpha Mutants

3-Deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase and anthranilate synthetase are key regulatory enzymes in the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway. The DAHP synthetase activity of Hansenula polymorpha was subject to additive feedback inhibition by phenylalanine and tyrosine but not by tryptophan. The synthesis of DAHP synthetase in this yeast was not repressed by exogenous aromatic amino acids, singly or in combinations. The activity of anthranilate synthetase was sensitive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan, but exogenous tryptophan did not repress the synthesis of this enzyme. Nevertheless, internal repression of anthranilate synthetase probably exists, since the content of this enzyme in H. polymorpha strain 3-136 was double that in the wild-type and less sensitive 5-fluorotryptophan-resistant strains. The biochemical mechanism for the overproduction of indoles by the 5-fluorotryptophan-resistant mutants was due primarily to a partial desensitization of the anthranilate synthetase of these strains to feedback inhibition by tryptophan. These results support the concept that inhibition of enzyme activities rather than enzyme repression is more important in the regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in H. polymorpha.     

Comparative regulation of isoenzymic 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetases in microorganisms

The independent control of regulatory isoenzymes by different metabolites constitutes one well-known pattern of control in branched metabolic pathways. This pattern was previously found to be widely distributed in the aromatic amino acid pathway of microorganisms in the case of the first enzyme of the sequence, 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase. The comparative stability of the isoenzymes as well as the effect of aromatic amino acids in the growth medium upon the levels of the individual isoenzymes were shown for Salmonella typhimurium. Several lines of evidence are discussed to demonstrate the strong reliance of Escherichia coli upon the phenylalanine-sensitive isoenzyme for the ordinary biosynthetic needs of wild-type strains. The frequent occurrence of "dominant" isoenzyme species which resist repressive effects of the inhibitory end products was noted. The lack of an obligatory correlation of the level of an isoenzyme activity and the synthesis of the end product which specifically controls its activity is used to discount the possibility that each isoenzyme might feed a unique and separate metabolic pool of end-product precursor. An isoenzymic DAHP synthetase sensitive to feedback inhibition by low levels of tryptophan was fractionated from tyrosine- and phenylalanine-sensitive isoenzymes in cell-free extracts of Neurospora crassa.     

Regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in phenazine-producing strains of Pseudomonas

Regulation of 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase was studied in eight strains of Pseudomonas which synthesize phenazine compounds. Repression studies with individual aromatic amino acids led to the finding that enzyme synthesis was repressed in only one strain, P. aureofaciens B1543p, and by only one amino acid, l-tyrosine. Feedback inhibition by the aromatic amino acids varied from strain to strain in terms of the type of inhibitory control, and the particular acid or acids which inhibited. Prephenate and chorismate, as well as a number of naturally occurring phenazine compounds, inhibited the DAHP synthetase activity to varying degrees.     

Repression of 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate synthetase (trp) and enzymes of the tryptophan pathway in Escherichia coli K-12

Mutant strains of Escherichia coli K-12 have been isolated in which the synthesis of 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (trp) is partially constitutive. The mutation causing derepression is closely linked to aroH [the structural gene for DAHP synthetase (trp)] and occurs in a locus designated aroJ. The aroJ mutation is not recessive in an aroJ(+)/aroJ(-) diploid strain, as the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (trp) is still derepressed in this strain. On the basis of its close linkage to aroH and its continued expression in an aroJ(+)/aroJ(-) diploid, it is postulated that aroJ is an operator locus controlling the expression of the structural gene aroH. In support of this conclusion, the synthesis of anthranilate synthetase is still normally repressible in aroJ(-) strains, whereas, in trpR(-) strains, both DAHP synthetase (trp) and anthranilate synthetase are synthesized constitutively. The synthesis of DAHP synthetase (trp) remains repressible in an operator-constitutive mutant of the tryptophan operon. In two trpS mutants which possess defective tryptophanyl transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase enzymes, neither DAHP synthetase (trp) nor anthranilate synthetase derepress under conditions in which the defective synthetase causes a decrease in growth rate. On the other hand, an effect of the trpS mutant alleles on the level of anthranilate synthetase has been observed in strains which are derepressed for the synthesis of this enzyme, because of a mutation in the gene trpR. Possible explanations for this effect are presented.     

Tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: complementation between different tyrR alleles

Dominance tests in diploids have confirmed that the product of the tyrR gene is involved in a negative control system affecting the synthesis of both 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (tyr) and DAHP synthetase (phe). Some tyrR mutants are derepressed for the synthesis of both DAHP synthetase (tyr) and (phe), whereas others are derepressed for the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (tyr) but overrepressed for the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (phe). Complementation tests between these alleles confirm that they are in the same cistron. The allele causing overrepression of enzyme synthesis is dominant over both the wild type and the derepressing allele in diploids.     

3-Deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthase mutants of Salmonella typhimurium.

The first committed step of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Salmonella typhimurium was shown to be catalyzed by three isoenzymes of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthase. Mutations in each of the genes specifying the isoenzymes were isolated and mapped. aroG, the structural gene for the phenylalanine-inhibitable isoenzyme, was linked to gal, and aroH, the structural gene for the tryptophan-inhibitable isoenzyme, was linked to aroE. aroF, the structural gene for the tyrosine-inhibitable isoenzyme, was linked to pheA and tyrA, which specify the phenylalanine- and tyrosine-specific branch-point enzymes, respectively. The phenylalanine-inhibitable isoenzyme was the predominant DAHP synthase in wild-type cells, and only the tryosine-inhibitable isoenzyme was completely repressed, as well as inhibited, by low levels of its allosteric effector. The DAHP synthase isoenzymes were separated by chromatography on diethylaminoethyl-cellulose with a phosphate gradient which contained enolpyruvate phosphate to protect the otherwise unstable phenylalanine-inhibitable isoenzyme. No cross-inhibition of either the tyrosine- or phenylalanine-inhibitable isoenzyme was observed at inhibitor concentrations up to 1 mM. The tryptophan-inhibitable isoenzyme was partially purified from extracts of a strain lacking the other two isoenzymes and shown to be inhibited about 30% by 1 mM tryptophan. A preliminary study of interference by tryptophan in the periodate-thiobarbiturate assay for DAHP suggested a combined effect of tryptophan and erythrose 4-phosphate, or an aldehydic compound resulting from degradation of erythrose 4-phosphate by periodate.     

Mutants of Escherichia coli with an altered tyrosyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase

We have isolated several mutants defective in the gene for tyrosyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) synthetase (tyrS). One of these mutants is described in detail. It was isolated as a tyrosine auxotroph with defects both in the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase and in the tyrosine biosynthetic enzyme, prephenate dehydrogenase. It also had derepressed levels of the tyrosine-specific 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase. The latter finding suggested that a wild-type tyrS gene was required for repression of the tyrosine biosynthetic enzymes. The following results demonstrated that this hypothesis was not correct. (i) When the defective tyrS gene was transferred to another strain, the tyrosine-specific DAHP synthetase in that strain was not derepressed, and (ii) two other mutants with defective tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases had repressed levels of the tyrosine biosynthetic enzymes. The tyrS gene was located near minute 32 on the Escherichia coli chromosome by interrupted mating experiments.     

Genetic and biochemical analysis of the isoenzymes concerned in the first reaction of aromatic biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Mutant strains of Escherichia coli K-12 were isolated possessing mutations which affected the tyrosine-inhibitable 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase, the phenylalanine-inhibitable DAHP synthetase, or the tryptophan-repressible DAHP synthetase. The mutations causing the loss of each of these activities have been mapped and are widely separated from each other on the E. coli chromosome. Chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose columns allowed the recognition of four peaks of activity.     

Allostery of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase in Clostridium: another conserved generic characteristic

Enzymological studies were done to characterize the allosteric control of 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase in three species of Clostridium. Allosteric control was identified as feedback inhibition by phenylalanine and was qualitatively similar for the DAHP synthetases of C. butyricum, C. acetobutylicum, and C. tetanomorphum. Quantitative differences in the enzymology and kinetics of allosteric control distinguished C. tetanomorphum from C. butyricum and C. acetobutylicum. Crude extracts contained apparent proteolytic activity which could be fractionated from DAHP synthetase. The proteolytic activity was more labile than DAHP synthetase in extracts and was progressively inactivated by serial freeze-thaw treatments. Protease activity was at least partially inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl-fluoride. The method of comparative allostery of DAHP synthetase distinguishes the genera Bacillus and Clostridium, each having a strongly conserved pattern of regulation for DAHP synthetase. The data reinforce previous conclusions that allosteric control patterns governing the activity of DAHP synthetase are stable, reliable generic characteristics.     

Regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: control of the aroF-tyrA operon in the absence of repression control.

Evidence was found which indicated that a mutation in gene trpS affected the rate of synthesis of tyrosine-repressible 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase. The effect was found to occur independently of repression mediated by the tyrR gene product, and it was not due to a change in growth rate, nor was it a manifestation of the stringent response. It is proposed that in the proximal region of the aroF-tyrA operon there is an attenuator site controlled by the level of charged tryptophanyl-transfer RNA. In addition, it was demonstrated that starvation for certain amino acids led to degradation of tyrosine-repressible DAHP synthetase, but not phenylalanine-repressible DAHP synthetase, and supplementation with the missing amino acid led to an increased rate of synthesis of tyrosine-repressible DAHP synthetase during subsequent growth.     

Regulation of tyrosine and phenylalanine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: properties of the tyrR gene product

A spontaneous amber tyrR mutant has been isolated in which constitutive synthesis of 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (tyr) and DAHP synthetase (phe) is suppressible by supC(-), supD(-), supF(-) and supU(-). This finding suggests the tyrR gene product is a protein. Derepression of DAHP synthetase (phe) in this and in seven other spontaneous tyrR mutants and in four Mu-1-induced tyrR mutants provides further evidence for the involvement of the tyrR gene product in phenylalanine biosynthesis. Evidence that the tyrR product is a component of repressor, rather than an enzyme involved in its synthesis or modification, comes from a study of a temperature-sensitive tyrR mutant. This mutant is of the thermolabile type, since derepression occurs rapidly and in the presence and absence of growth.     

Feedback regulation of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase from a marine bacterium, Vibrio MB22

A marine bacterium, Vibrio MB22, has been studied to determine the pattern of feedback regulation of the first enzyme unique to the biosynthesis of the aromatic amino acids, 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase. The crude extract was used to study response of the enzyme to various salts as well as possible feedback inhibitors. Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was found to be inhibitory to enzyme activity, and only CoCl(2), of the salts tested, allowed full recovery as well as apparent stimulation of the DAHP synthetase activity. The DAHP synthetase activity was inhibited solely by the aromatic amino acids, tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine, of the possible effectors tested. Further work demonstrated the existence of three isozymes of DAHP synthetase, each primarily inhibited by one of the aromatic amino acids.     

Regulated enzymes of aromatic amino acid synthesis: control, isozymic nature, and aggregation in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis

Several regulated enzymes involved in aromatic amino acid synthesis were studied in Bacillus subtilis and B. licheniformis with reference to organization and control mechanisms. B. subtilis has been previously shown (23) to have a single 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase but to have two isozymic forms of both chorismate mutase and shikimate kinase. Extracts of B. licheniformis chromatographed on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose indicated a single DAHP synthetase and two isozymic forms of chorismate mutase, but only a single shikimate kinase activity. The evidence for isozymes has been supported by the inability to find strains mutant in these activities, although strains mutant for the other activities were readily obtained. DAHP synthetase, one of the isozymes of chorismate mutase, and one of the isozymes of shikimate kinase were found in a single complex in B. subtilis. No such complex could be detected in B. licheniformis. DAHP synthetase and shikimate kinase from B. subtilis were feedback-inhibited by chorismate and prephenate. DAHP synthetase from B. licheniformis was also feedback-inhibited by these two intermediates, but shikimate kinase was inhibited only by chorismate. When the cells were grown in limiting tyrosine, the DAHP synthetase, chorismate mutase, and shikimate kinase activities of B. subtilis were derepressed in parallel, but only DAHP synthetase and chorismate mutase were derepressible in B. licheniformis. Implications of the differences as well as the similarities between the control and the pattern of enzyme aggregation in the two related species of bacilli were discussed.     

Mis-regulation of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase does not account for growth inhibition by phenylalanine in Agmenellum quadruplicatum

The growth of the blue-green bacterium, Agmenellum quadruplicatum, is inhibited in the presence of l-phenylalanine. This species has a single, constitutively synthesized 3-deoxy-d-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase. l-Phenylalanine inhibits DAHP synthetase non-competitively with respect to both substrate reactants. Other aromatic amino acids do not inhibit the activity of DAHP synthetase. A common expectation for branch-point enzymes such as DAHP synthetase is a balanced pattern of feedback control by all of the ultimate end products. It seemed likely that growth inhibition might equate with defective regulation within the branched aromatic pathway. Accordingly, the possibility was examined that mis-regulation of DAHP synthetase by l-phenylalanine in wild-type cells causes starvation for precursors of the other aromatic end products. However, the molecular basis for growth inhibition cannot be attributed to l-phenylalanine inhibition of DAHP synthetase for the following reasons: (i) DAHP synthetase enzymes from l-phenylalanine-resistant mutants are more, rather than less, sensitive to feedback inhibition by l-phenylalanine. (ii) Shikimate not only fails to antagonize inhibition, but is itself inhibitory. (iii) Neither the sensitivity nor the completeness of l-phenylalanine inhibition of the wild-type enzyme in vitro appears sufficient to account for the potent inhibition of growth in vivo by l-phenylalanine. The dominating effect of l-phenylalanine in the control of DAHP synthetase appears to reflect a mechanism that prevents rather than causes growth inhibition by l-phenylalanine. The alteration of the control of DAHP synthetase in mutants selected for resistance to growth inhibition by l-phenylalanine did indicate that the cause for this metabolite vulnerability can be localized within the aromatic amino acid pathway. Apparently, an aromatic intermediate (between shikimate and the end products) accumulates in the presence of l-phenylalanine, causing toxicity by some unknown mechanism. It is concluded that phenylpyruvate, potentially formed by transamination of l-phenylalanine, is an unlikely cause of growth inhibition. Although several significant questions remain unanswered, our results suggest that single-effector control of DAHP synthetase, the first regulatory enzyme activity of a branched pathway, may be more appropriate than it would seem a priori.     

Comparative allostery of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthetase as an indicator of taxonomic relatedness in pseudomonad genera.

Recently, an analysis of the enzymological patterning of L-tyrosine biosynthesis was shown to distinguish five taxonomic groupings among species currently named Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, or Alcaligenes (Byng et al., J. Bacteriol. 144:247--257, 1980). These groupings paralleled with striking consistency those previously defined by ribosomal ribonucleic acid-deoxyribonucleic acid homology relationships. The comparative allostery of 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase has previously been shown to be a useful indicator of taxonomic relationship at about the level of genus. The comparative allostery of DAHP synthetase was evaluated in relationship to data available from the same pseudomonad species previously studied. Species of Xanthomonas and some named species of Pseudomonas, e.g., P. maltophilia, were unmistakably recognized as belonging to group V, having a DAHP synthetase sensitive to sequential feedback inhibition by chorismate. This control pattern is thus far unique to group V pseudomonads among microorganisms. Group V organisms were also unique in their possession of DAHP synthetase enzymes that were unstimulated by divalent cations. Group IV pseudomonads (P. diminuta) were readily distinguished by the retro-tryptophan pattern of control for DAHP synthetase. Activity for DAHP synthetase was not always recovered in group IV species, e.g., P. vesicularis. The remaining three groups exhibited overlapping patterns of DAHP synthetase sensitivity to both L-phenylalanine and L-tyrosine. Individual species cannot be reliably keyed to group I. II, or III without other data. However, each group overall exhibited a different trend of relative sensitivity to L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine. Thus, although enzymological patterning of L-tyrosine biosynthesis alone can be used to separate the five pseudomonad groups, the independent assay of DAHP synthetase control pattern can be used to confirm assignments. The latter approach is, in fact, the easiest and most definitive method for recognition of group V (and often of group IV) species.     

Phenylalanine and tyrosine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli K-12: mutants derepressed for 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase (phe), 3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate synthetase (tyr), chorismate mutase T-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A

Mutant strains of Escherichia coli have been isolated in which the synthesis of 3-deoxy-d-arabinoheptulosonic acid 7-phosphate (DAHP) synthetase (phe) is derepressed, in addition to those enzymes of tyrosine biosynthesis previously shown to be controlled by the gene tyrR. The major enzyme of the terminal pathway of phenylalanine biosynthesis chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydratase is not derepressed in these strains. Genetic analysis of the mutants shows that the mutation or mutations causing derepression map close to previously reported tyrR mutations. A study of one of the mutations has shown it to be recessive to the wild-type allele in a diploid strain. It is proposed that the tyrR gene product is involved in the regulation of the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (phe) as well as the synthesis of DAHP synthetase (tyr), chorismate mutase-prephenate dehydrogenase, and transaminase A.     

Regulation of enzyme synthesis in the aromatic amino acid pathway of Bacillus subtilus

The control of the synthesis of certain key enzymes of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis was studied. Tyrosine represses the first enzyme of the 3-deoxy-d-arabino heptulosonic acid 7-phosphate pathway, DAHP synthetase, as well as shikimate kinase and chorismate mutase about fivefold in cultures grown under conditions limiting the synthesis of the aromatic amino acids. A mixture of tyrosine and phenylalanine represses twofold further. Tryptophan does not appear to be involved in the control of these enzymes. The specific activity of at least one early enzyme, dehydroquinase, remains essentially constant under a variety of nutritional supplementations. Two enzymes in the terminal branches are repressed by the amino acids they help to synthesize: prephenate dehydrogenase can be repressed fourfold by tyrosine, and anthranilate synthetase can be repressed over 200-fold by tryptophan. There is no evidence that phenylalanine represses prephenate dehydratase. Regulatory mutants have been isolated in which various enzymes of the pathway are no longer repressible. One class is derepressed for several of the prechorismate enzymes, as well as chorismate mutase and prephenate dehydrogenase. In another mutant, several enzymes of tryptophan biosynthesis are no longer repressible. Thus, the rate of synthesis of enzymes at every stage of the pathway is under control of various aromatic amino acids. Tyrosine and phenylalanine control the synthesis of enzymes involved in the synthesis of the three aromatic amino acids. Each terminal branch is under the control of its end product.