ABSTRACT
Solute transport and metabolism are linked processes in the cell. Genetic organization in bacteria frequently reects this functional coupling by the clustering of genes encoding both transport and metabolic activities in transcriptional units. is association is generally observed in operons encoding catabolic pathways for carbon sources [3]. Transport and regulatory systems participate in the process whereby the bacterial cell can select from a mixture of nutrients those that aord the highest growth rate [4]. In addition, the dierential expression of genes encoding distinct transporters for a specic substrate allow the cell to select the transport mechanism according to the physiological state and environmental conditions [5].
