Nucleotide sequence of ilvGEDA operon attenuator region of Escherichia coli

The nucleotide sequence of the DNA thought to contain the control region for the ilvGEDA operon in Escherichia coli has been determined by the Maxam-Gilbert procedure. The sequence includes a region that, upon transcription, would yield a leader transcript specifying a peptide 32 residues long. This putative peptide would contain four leucine, five isoleucine, and six valine residues. A model is proposed that correlates the multivalent control of the ilvGEDA operon with the extent to which this leader transcript is translated. In vitro transcription experiments yielded a transcript of about 183 nucelotides, compatible with the predictions of the model.