Transcription of Regions within the divergent argECBH operon of Escherichia coli: evidence for lack of an attenuation mechanism.

Using in vitro and in vivo assays, we could detect no early termination of DNA transcription in the proximal part of the argCBH arm of the argECBH divergent operon. The discrepancy noted previously between the respective amplitudes of variation of messenger and enzyme synthesis must therefore be attributed to other causes than a difference in efficiency between attenuation and repression.