We have analysed transcription and mRNA processing for the gene 32 region of five phages related to T4. Two different organizations of gene 32 proximal promoters were found. In T4 and M1, middle‐ and late‐mode promoters are separated by 50 nucleotides and located within an upstream open reading frame. In T2, K3, Ac3, and Ox2, the 626 bp T4 sequence that includes these promoters is replaced by a 59 bp sequence containing overlapping middle and late promoters. The RNase E‐dependent processing of the g32 mRNAs is conserved in all of the phages. The processing site immediately upstream of g32 in T4 and M1 has been replaced in the other phages by a different sequence that is also cleaved by RNase E. The remarkable conservation of these regulatory features, despite the sequence divergences, suggests that they play an important role in the control of gene expression.