A 610-bp DNA fragment carrying the promoter and amino-terminal coding regions of the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) structural gene from Escherichia coli has been sequenced. The amino-terminal sequence of the enzyme was also determined to help localize the transcriptional and translational signals for this gene. Three possible promoters and a CRP binding site were identified by concensus criteria. The sequence of 102 amino acids at the amino terminus of the enzyme is compared with the amino acid sequence from other GDH enzymes.