Aromatic compounds are synthesised via the shikimate pathway. The fungal pentafunctional arom enzyme has five shikimate pathway activities on one polypeptide chain whereas in bacteria, all seven activities are separate enzymes. In all plants, which have been examined, including Pisum sativum, the shikimate pathway enzymes are separable except for 3-dehydroquinase and shikimate dehydrogenase. These activities occur on a single bifunctional polypeptide. The genes for the shikimate pathway enzymes have been isolated from a variety of microbial sources. This thesis is concerned with attempts to isolate the genes for the shikimate pathway enzymes from P. sativum
