<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:p> The committed biosynthetic reaction to benzoyl-coenzyme A in the marine bacterium “ <jats:italic>Streptomyces maritimus</jats:italic> ” is carried out by the novel prokaryotic phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) EncP, which converts the primary amino acid <jats:sc>l</jats:sc> -phenylalanine to <jats:italic>trans</jats:italic> -cinnamic acid. Recombinant EncP is specific for <jats:sc>l</jats:sc> -phenylalanine and shares many biochemical features with eukaryotic PALs, which are substantially larger proteins by ∼200 amino acid residues.