Modulation of the phosphate-starvation response in Escherichia coli by genetic manipulation of the polyphosphate pathways.

The effect of intracellular polyphosphate on the phosphate-starvation response in Escherichia coli was studied by genetically manipulating the intracellular polyphosphate levels and by performing phosphate shifts on the genetically engineered strains. Strains that produced large quantities of polyphosphate and were able to degrade it induced the phosphate-starvation response to a lesser extent than wild-type strains, whereas strains that were unable to degrade a large intracellular polyphosphate pool induced the phosphate-starvation response to a greater extent than wild-type strains. These results have important implications for expression of heterologous genes under control of the phoA promoter. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.