Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the leucyl-tRNA synthetase gene of Bacillus subtilis

The leucyl-tRNA synthetase gene (leuS) of Bacillus subtilis was cloned and sequenced. A mutation in the gene, leuS1, increases the transcription and expression of the ilv-leu operion, permitting monitoring of leuS alleles. The leuS1 mutation was mapped to 270 degrees on the chromosome. Sequence analysis showed that the mutation is a single-base substitution, possibly in a monocistronic operon. The leader mRNA predicted by the sequence would contain a number of possible secondary structures and a T box, a sequence observed upstream of leader mRNA terminators of Bacillus tRNA synthetases and the B. subtilis ilv-leu operon. The DNA of the B. subtilis leuS open reading frame is 48% identical to the leuS gene of Escherichia coli and is predicted to encode a polypeptide with 46% identity to the leucyl-tRNA synthetase of E. coli.