Genetic Evidence Suggests that the Intergenic Region between pstA and pstB Plays a Role in the Regulation of rpoS Translation during Phosphate Limitation

In addition to the Pho regulon, phosphate starvation also stimulates the accumulation of RpoS. Several deletion mutations within the pstSCAB-phoU operon were tested for the accumulation of RpoS during exponential growth. Our data suggest that the processed 3′ end of the pstA message stimulates translation of rpoS.