Transcription of the Bacillus subtilis gnt operon results in a polycistronic mRNA that encodes from the 5' end the Gnt repressor, gluconate kinase and permease. The RNA is drastically induced through inactivation of the Gnt repressor by gluconate. The results of deletion analysis of the gnt promoter region upstream of the repressor gene indicated that no other promoter except the gnt promoter was present for expression of the gluconate kinase gene. In contrast to the synthesis of gluconate kinase and permease, which was markedly induced by gluconate, the results of a radioimmunoassay for the Gnt repressor indicated that synthesis of the Gnt repressor from the induced mRNA was posttranscriptionally repressed.
