A series of Escherichia coli mutants were exmined for ability to convert glucose and ammonium salts into phenylalanine. This enabled the biochemical changes having major. effects on phenylaianine yield, and interactions between mutations, to be identified. Changes to the common pathway of aromatic biosynthesis having a major effects include desensitization of the first enzyme (3-deoxy-D-arabinoheptulosonate synthase) to end-product inhibition, and removal of repression of enzyme synthesis. It is suggested that the 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate synthase Phe isoenzyme has a more important effect on yield. Similarly, removal of repression and end-product inhibition on the phenylalanine terminal pathway increased yield, and changes to both common and branch pathways were synergistic. Blockage of the typrosine and tryptophan pathways had minor effects on phenylalanine yield, and a mutation affecting aramatic amino acid transport (aroP) decreased yield. With multiple-mutation strains hish specific rates of product formation (ie 0.1-0.17g phenylalanine/g cells/h) were obtained.