Characterization of Constitutive Galactose Permease Mutants in Salmonella typhimurium

Salmonella typhimurium strains, lacking both enzyme I and the phosphocarrier protein, HPr, of the phosphoenolpyruvate-sugar phosphotransferase system, cannot transport or metabolize glucose and other sugar substrates of this enzyme system. Mutants which regain the ability to specifically utilize glucose were found to constitutively synthesize a galactose permease by virtue of a mutation in the galR gene. This permease, shown to be an active transport system, does not require HPr or enzyme I for activity.