TRICISTRONIC OPERON EXPRESSION OF THE GENES GCAD (TMS), WHICH ENCODESN-ACETYLGLUCOSAMINE 1-PHOSPHATE URIDYLTRANSFERASE, PRS, WHICH ENCODESPHOSPHORIBOSYL DIPHOSPHATE SYNTHETASE, AND CTC IN VEGETATIVE CELLS OFBACILLUS-SUBTILIS

The gcaD, prs, and ctc genes were shown to be organized as a tricistro nic operon. The transcription of the prs gene, measured as phosphoribo syl diphosphate synthetase activity, and of the ctc gene, measured as beta-galactosidase activity specified by a ctc-lacZ protein fusion, we re dependent on the promoter in front of the gcaD gene. Analysis of cD NA molecules prepared with gcaD-prs-ctc-specified mRNA as the template revealed an RNA transcript that encompassed all three cistrons.