The amide group of glutamine is a source of nitrogen in the biosynthesis of a variety of compounds. These reactions are catalyzed by a group of enzymes known as glutamine amidotransferases; two of these, the glutamine amidotransferase subunits of p-aminobenzoate synthase and anthranilate synthase have been studied in detail and have been shown to be structurally and functionally related. In some micro-organisms, p-aminobenzoate synthase and anthranilate synthase share a common glutamine amidotransferase subunit. We report here the primary DNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the p-aminobenzoate synthase glutamine amidotransferase subunits from Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella aerogenes and Serratia marcescens. A comparison of these glutamine amidotransferase sequences to the sequences of ten others, including some that function specifically in either the p-aminobenzoate synthase or anthranilate synthase complexes and some that are shared by both synthase complexes, has revealed several interesting features of the structure and organization of these genes, and has allowed us to speculate as to the evolutionary history of this family of enzymes. We propose a model for the evolution of the p-aminobenzoate synthase and anthranilate synthase glutamine amidotransferase subunits in which the duplication and subsequent divergence of the genetic information encoding a shared glutamine amidotransferase subunit led to the evolution of two new pathway-specific enzymes.