Escherichia coli phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase operon is controlled by attenuation in vivo

The two subunits of phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase are made from two adjacent, cotranscribed genes that constitute the pheS,T operon. Three different fusions between phfS,T and lac genes were constructed in order to study the regulation of the pheS,T operon in vivo. We show, using these fusions, that phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase transcription is derepressed when the level of aminoacylated tRNA Phe is lowered by mutational alteration of the synthetase. The pheS,T operon is also derepressed in strains carrying a trpX mutation. The gene trpX codes for an enzyme that modifies both tRNA Trp and tRNA Phe and a mutation in that gene causes derepression of the trp and pheA operons, both of which are controlled by attenuation. The in vivo features of the regulation of pheS,T expression described here in correlation with the DNA sequence and in vitro transcription results described in the accompanying paper by Fayat et al. indicate that phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase is controlled by attenuation in a way analogous to several amino acid biosynthetic operons.