The global gene expression response of Escherichia coli to l-phenylalanine

We investigated the global gene expression changes of Escherichia coli due to the presence of different concentrations of phenylalanine or shikimate in the growth medium. The response to 0.5 g l−1 phenylalanine primarily reflected a perturbed aromatic amino acid metabolism, in particular due to TyrR-mediated regulation. The addition of 5 g l−1 phenylalanine reduced the growth rate by half and elicited a great number of likely indirect effects on genes regulated in response to changed pH, nitrogen or carbon availability. Consistent with the observed gene expression changes, supplementation with shikimate, tyrosine and tryptophan relieved growth inhibition by phenylalanine. In contrast to the wild-type, a tyrR disruption strain showed increased expression of pckA and of tktB in the presence of phenylalanine, but its growth was not affected by phenylalanine at the concentrations tested. The absence of growth inhibition by phenylalanine suggested that at high phenylalanine concentrations TyrR-defective strains might perform better in phenylalanine production.