We report here the 1244-bp sequence of a Streptococcus pneumoniae chromosomal fragment that contains the putative promoter and protein-coding region of the lactate dehydrogenase gene (ldh). The nucleotide sequence predicts a protein of 327 aa with a molecular weight of 35,202 daltons, after removal of the N-terminal methionine residue. The ldh gene is located on the ApaI fragment 1 and SmaI fragment 2 of the previously reported physical map of S. pneumoniae chromosome.