The gene coding for the glycolytic enzyme triose phosphate isomerase (TPI1) was isolated from a yeast library in the shuttle vector pYE13. Selecting for a deletion mutant of the plasmid which enhances expression of the otherwise dormant yeast gene in E. coli facilitated the identification of the coding region. The DNA sequences of the wild type and mutant genes were determined by chemical methods. The 5' flanking region of the wild-type TPI1 resembles the analogous regions of the yeast genes coding for two other glycolytic enzymes. The sequence of the deletion mutant indicates that, upstream from -65 in the 5' flanking region, 3.3 kilobases have been lost from entirely within the yeast insert. The mutation reduces enzyme activity by tenfold in yeast, and its implications for the expression of the gene in yeast and E. coli are discussed. The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide order is consistent with the electron density map of the protein as well as the sequence of its N-terminal 16 amino acids and amino acid composition. The amino acid sequence is approximately 50% homologous with the triose phosphate isomerases from rabbit, chicken, and coelacanth and 37% homologous with the Bacillus stearothermophilus enzyme. Residues which are thought to be catalytically important are conserved.