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A lectin from C. maritima was crystallized using the vapour-diffusion method and crystals diffracted to 2.1 Å resolution. A molecular-replacement search found a solution with a correlation coefficient of 69.2% and an R factor of 42.5%, refinement is in progress.

A lectin from Canavalia maritima seeds (ConM) was purified and submitted to crystallization experiments. The best crystals were obtained using the vapour-diffusion method at a constant temperature of 293 K and grew in 7 d. A complete structural data set was collected to 2.1 Å resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. The ConM crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group P21212, with unit-cell parameters a = 67.15, b = 70.90, c = 97.37 Å. A molecular-replacement search found a solution with a correlation coefficient of 69.2% and an R factor of 42.5%. Crystallographic refinement is under way.

A lectin from C. roseum seeds (CRL) has been purified, characterized and crystallized.

A lectin from Cymbosema roseum seeds (CRL) was purified, characterized and crystallized. The best crystals grew in a month and were obtained by the vapour-diffusion method using a precipitant solution consisting of 0.1 M Tris–HCl pH 7.8, 8%(w/v) PEG 3350 and 0.2 M proline at a constant temperature of 293 K. A data set was collected to 1.77 Å resolution at a synchrotron-radiation source. CRL crystals are orthorhombic, belonging to space group P212121. Crystallographic refinement and full amino-acid sequence determination are in progress.

Crystals of P. platycephala chintinase/lectin (PPL-2) belong to the orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 55.19, b = 59.95, c = 76.60 Å. The preliminary cystal structure of PPL-2 was solved at a resolution of 1.73 Å by molecular replacement, presenting a correlation coefficient of 0.558 and an R factor of 0.439.

A chitin-binding protein named PPL-2 was purified from Parkia platycephala seeds and crystallized. Crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 55.19, b = 59.95, c = 76.60 Å, and grew over several days at 293 K using the hanging-drop method. Using synchrotron radiation, a complete structural data set was collected to 1.73 Å resolution. The preliminary crystal structure of PPL-2, determined by molecular replacement, presents a correlation coefficient of 0.558 and an R factor of 0.439. Crystallographic refinement is in progress.

The crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a red marine alga lectin isolated from H. musciformis is reported.

HML, a lectin from the red marine alga Hypnea musciformis, defines a novel lectin family. Orthorhombic crystals of HML belonging to space group P212121 grew within three weeks at 293 K using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. A complete data set was collected at 2.4 Å resolution. HML is the first marine alga lectin to be crystallized.

UlaG, the putative l-ascorbate-6-phosphate lactonase encoded by the ulaG gene from the utilization of l-ascorbate regulon in E. coli, has been cloned, overexpressed, purified using standard chromatographic techniques and crystallized in a monoclinic space group. Crystals were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method at 293 K. A data set diffracting to 3 Å resolution was collected from a single crystal at 100 K.

UlaG, the putative l-ascorbate-6-phosphate lactonase encoded by the ulaG gene from the utilization of l-ascorbate regulon in Escherichia coli, has been cloned, overexpressed, purified using standard chromatographic techniques and crystallized. Crystals were obtained by sitting-drop vapour diffusion at 293 K. Preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the UlaG crystals belonged to the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 104.52, b = 180.69, c = 112.88 Å, β = 103.26°. The asymmetric unit is expected to contain six copies of UlaG, with a corresponding volume per protein weight of 2.16 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 43%.

Canavalia boliviana lectin (Cbol) was purified using a Sephadex G-50 column and crystallized in the presence of X-Man by hanging-drop vapour diffusion at 293 K. After optimization, crystals suitable for diffraction were obtained using 0.1 M HEPES pH 7.5 and 3.0 M sodium formate.

Plant lectins are the most studied group of carbohydrate-binding proteins. Despite the high similarity between the members of the Diocleinae subtribe (Leguminosae) group, they present differing biological activities. Canavalia boliviana lectin (Cbol) was purified using a Sephadex G-50 column and crystallized in the presence of X-Man by hanging-drop vapour diffusion at 293 K. After optimization, crystals suitable for diffraction were obtained under the condition 0.1 M HEPES pH 7.5 and 3.0 M sodium formate. The crystal belonged to the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 126.70, b = 66.64, c = 64.99 Å, α = 90.0, β = 120.8, γ = 90.0°. Assuming the presence of a dimer in the asymmetric unit, the solvent content was estimated to be about 46%. A complete data set was collected at 1.5 Å resolution.

Crystals of the 45.1 kDa functional form of 2,3-diketo-5-methylthiopentyl-1-phosphate enolase from B. subtilis diffracted to 2.30 Å resolution.

2,3-Diketo-5-methylthiopentyl-1-phosphate enolase (DK-MTP-1P enolase) from Bacillus subtilis was crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals grew using PEG 3350 as the precipitant at 293 K. The crystals diffracted to 2.3 Å resolution at 100 K using synchrotron radiation and were found to belong to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 79.3, b = 91.5, c = 107.0 Å, β = 90.8°. The asymmetric unit contained four molecules of DK-MTP-1P enolase, with a V M value of 2.2 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 43%.

Crystals of the mature form of CzcE from C. metallidurans CH34 were obtained which diffracted synchrotron radiation to 1.96 Å.

CzcE is encoded by the czc determinant that allows Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 to modulate its internal concentrations of cobalt, zinc and cadmium. This periplasmic protein was overproduced in its mature form in Escherichia coli and purified in two steps. After preliminary screening of crystallization conditions using a robot, well diffracting crystals were obtained using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals diffracted to 1.96 Å using synchrotron radiation. They belonged to the monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 105.54, b = 29.68, c = 71.10 Å. The asymmetric unit is expected to contain a dimer, in agreement with the quaternary structure deduced from gel-filtration experiments.

This is the first report of the crystallization of an IDS-epimerase from A. tumefaciens BY6 and its l-selenomethionine derivative.

The initial degradation of all stereoisomers of the complexing agent iminodisuccinate (IDS) is enabled by an epimerase in the bacterial strain Agrobacterium tumefaciens BY6. This protein was produced in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals of IDS-epimerase were obtained under several conditions. The best diffracting crystals were grown in 22% PEG 3350, 0.2 M (NH4)2SO4 and 0.1 M bis-Tris propane pH 7.2 at 293 K. These crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 55.4, b = 104.2, c = 78.6 Å, β = 103.3°, and diffracted to 1.7 Å resolution. They contain two protein molecules per asymmetric unit. In order to solve the structure using the MAD phasing method, crystals of the l-­selenomethionine-substituted epimerase were grown in the presence of 20% PEG 3350, 0.2 M Na2SO4 and 0.1 M bis-Tris propane pH 8.5.

Blue laccase from the white-rot basidiomycete P. tigrinus, an enzyme involved in lignin biodegradation, has been crystallized. The crystals obtained give diffraction data at 1.4 Å, the best resolution to date for this class of enzymes, which may assist in further elucidation of the catalytic mechanism of multicopper oxidases.

The blue laccase from the white-rot basidiomycete fungus Panus tigrinus, an enzyme involved in lignin biodegradation, has been crystallized. P. tigrinus laccase crystals grew within one week at 296 K using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method in 22%(w/v) PEG 4000, 0.2 M CaCl2, 100 mM Tris–HCl pH 7.5. The crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 54.2, b = 111.6, c = 97.1, β = 97.7°, and contain 46% solvent. A complete native data set was collected to 1.4 Å resolution at the copper edge. Molecular replacement using the Coprinus cinereus laccase structure (PDB code ) as a starting model was performed and initial electron-density maps revealed the presence of a full complement of copper ions. Model refinement is in progress. The P. tigrinus laccase structural model exhibits the highest resolution available to date and will assist in further elucidation of the catalytic mechanism and electron-transfer processes for this class of enzymes.

Wild-type and variant crystals of a recombinant enzyme β-d-glucan glucohydrolase from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) were obtained by macroseeding and cross-seeding with microcrystals obtained from native plant protein. Crystals grew to dimensions of up to 500 × 250 × 375 μm at 277 K in the hanging-drops by vapour-diffusion. Further, the conditions are described that yielded the wild-type crystals with dimensions of 80 × 40 × 60 μm by self-nucleation vapour-diffusion in sitting-drops at 281 K. The wild-type and recombinant crystals prepared by seeding techniques achived full size within 5–14 days, while the wild-type crystals grown by self-nucleation appeared after 30 days and reached their maximum size after another two months. Both the wild-type and recombinant variant crystals, the latter altered in the key catalytic and substrate-binding residues Glu220, Trp434 and Arg158/Glu161 belonged to the P43212 tetragonal space group, i.e., the space group of the native microcrystals was retained in the newly grown recombinant crystals. The crystals diffracted beyond 1.57–1.95 Å and the cell dimensions were between a = b = 99.2–100.8 Å and c = 183.2–183.6 Å. With one molecule in the asymmetric unit, the calculated Matthews coefficients were between 3.4–3.5 Å3·Da−1 and the solvent contents varied between 63.4% and 64.5%. The macroseeding and cross-seeding techniques are advantageous, where a limited amount of variant proteins precludes screening of crystallisation conditions, or where variant proteins could not be crystallized.

A thermostable multicopper oxidase from Thermus thermophilus HB27 (Tth-MCO) has been successfully crystallized using the sitting-drop and hanging-drop vapour-diffusion methods.

A thermostable multicopper oxidase from Thermus thermophilus HB27 (Tth-MCO) was successfully crystallized using the sitting-drop and hanging-drop vapour-diffusion methods. Crystallization conditions and preliminary X-ray diffraction data to 1.5 Å resolution obtained using synchrotron radiation at 100 K are reported. The crystals belonged to space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 93.6, b = 110.3, c = 96.3 Å. A monomer in the asymmetric unit yielded a Matthews coefficient (V M) of 2.60 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of 53%. An inactive enzyme form, apo-Tth-MCO, was also crystallized and diffraction data were collected to 1.7 Å resolution. In addition, a second inactive form of the enzyme, Hg-Tth-MCO, was obtained by soaking apo-Tth-MCO crystals with mercury(II) chloride and data were collected to a resolution of 1.7 Å.

The milk fat globule membrane antibodies HMFG1, HMFG2, NCRC 11 and four of the Mam 6 series, and the lectins peanut agglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin, Concanavalin A, Lotus tetragonolobus and Ulex europaeus I have been applied to 115 stage I and II breast carcinomas (median follow up = 36 months) to assess their value as prognostic markers. Of the milk fat globule membrane antibodies only NCRC 11 staining showed a relationship to development of recurrent disease and overall survival, but this did not act as an independent indicator over and above that provided by histological grade. None of the lectins gave prognostic information, including those whose binding related to node status or grade. It is concluded that for short-term prognosis none of the markers can given independent prognostic information over and above that provided by histological evaluation.

Treatment of second-stage juveniles (J2) of Meloidogyne incognita race 1 and M. javanica with soybean agglutinin, Concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, Lotus tetragonolobus agglutinin, or Limax flavus agglutinin or the corresponding competitive sugars for each of these lectins did not alter normal root tissue response of soybean cultivars Centennial and Pickett 71 to infection by M. incognita race 1 or M. javanica. Giant cells were frequently induced in Centennial and Pickett 71 roots 5 and 20 days after inoculation of roots with untreated J2 of a population of M. incognita race 3. Treatment of J2 of M. incognita race 3 with the lectins or carbohydrates listed above caused Centennial, but not Pickett 71, root tissue to respond in a hypersensitive manner to infection by M. incognita race 3. Penetration of soybean roots by J2 of Meloidogyne spp. was strongly inhibited in the presence of 0.1 M sialic acid. Treatment of J2 with sialic acid was not lethal to nematodes, and the inhibitory activity of sialic acid was apparently not caused by low pH. These results suggest that carbohydrates may influence plant-nematode interactions.

A total of 40 Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates, representing 19 penicillin-resistant isolates (from 8 heterosexual patients and 11 homosexual patients) and 21 penicillin-susceptible isolates (from 15 heterosexual patients and 6 homosexual patients) and obtained from the same geographic area, were examined. Lectin agglutination patterns were based on the reactivity of the isolates with the following 14 lectins: concanavalin A, Lens culinaris, Trichosanthes kinlowii, Griffonia simplicifolia I, Arachis hypogeae (peanut agglutinin), Glycine max (soybean agglutinin), Dolichos bifloris, Griffonia simplicifolia II, Solanum tuberosum (potato starch agglutinin), Triticum vulgaris (wheat germ agglutinin), Limax flavus, Phaseolus vulgaris, Ulex europaeus I, and Lotus tetragonolobus. All isolates were serotyped with monoclonal antibodies specific for gonococcal outer membrane protein I and auxotyped, and the plasmid content was determined. Resistant patient isolates were selected for their decreased penicillin susceptibility, and control isolates were selected for their penicillin susceptibility. Even though the patient isolates demonstrated resistance to penicillin, no phenotypic differences in lectin-grouping patterns were demonstrated between the two study groups; i.e., two predominant lectin groups were observed. No resistance-associated plasmids were detected. All patient isolates were serogroup IB (serovars IB-1, IB-2, and IB-4), whereas 12 of 21 control isolates were serogroup IA (P less than 0.05). Isolates obtained from different anatomical sites in the same patient (cervical and rectal) agreed with regard to lectin patterns and serovars but not auxotypes.

Preliminary X-ray diffraction studies on N-acetylglucosamine-phosphate mutase from C. albicans are reported.

N-acetylglucosamine-phosphate mutase (AGM1) is an essential enzyme in the synthesis of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) in eukaryotes and belongs to the α-d-phosphohexomutase superfamily. AGM1 from Candida albicans (CaAGM1) was purified and crystallized by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals obtained belong to the primitive monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 60.2, b = 130.2, c = 78.0 Å, β = 106.7°. The crystals diffract X-rays to beyond 1.8 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation.

Sections through various levels of small intestine from adult male rats were examined by fluorescence microscopy after treatment with fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled lectins from Dolichos biflorus, Lotus tetragonolobus, Ricinus communis, and Triticum vulgare (wheat germ). The latter three lectins reacted with the microvillar portion of the epithelial cells lining the crypts and villi in sections of intestine adjacent to the pylorus. This pattern of reactivity was sharply altered along the first 15 cm of intestine so that in sections distal to this point the luminal surfaces of only those epithelial cells in the crypts and at the base of the villi reacted with the L. tetragonolobus and R. communis lectins, whereas the wheat germ lectin reacted with the surfaces of the cells lining the villi. In sections from the distal end of the small intestine, all three lectins reacted with the surfaces of cells only at the base of the villi and in the crypts. These results show a difference in surface components in cells at various portions on the villi and the dependence of these differences on the region of intestine. The D. biflorus lectin reacted with approximately 25% of the goblet cells at each level of intestine studied whereas the reactivities of the goblet cells with the other three lectins were dependent upon the region of intestine.

The bifunctional enzyme catalase-phenol oxidase from S. thermophilum was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method in space group P21 and diffraction data were collected to 2.8 Å resolution.

Catalase-phenol oxidase from Scytalidium thermophilum is a bifunctional enzyme: its major activity is the catalase-mediated decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, but it also catalyzes phenol oxidation. To understand the structural basis of this dual functionality, the enzyme, which has been shown to be a tetramer in solution, has been purified by anion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography and has been crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique. Streak-seeding was used to obtain larger crystals suitable for X-ray analysis. Diffraction data were collected to 2.8 Å resolution at the Daresbury Synchrotron Radiation Source. The crystals belonged to space group P21 and contained one tetramer per asymmetric unit.

Plant and animal lectins with various carbohydrate specificities were used to type 35 Irish clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori and the type strain NCTC 11637 in a microtiter plate assay. Initially, a panel of eight lectins with the indicated primary specificities were used: Anguilla anguilla (AAA), Lotus tetragonolobus (Lotus A), and Ulex europaeus I (UEA I), specific for α-l-fucose; Solanum tuberosum (STA) and Triticum vulgaris (WGA), specific for β-N-acetylglucosamine; Glycine max (SBA), specific for β-N-acetylgalactosamine; Erythrina cristagali (ECA), specific for β-galactose and β-N-acetylgalactosamine; and Lens culinaris (LCA), specific for α-mannose and α-glucose. Three of the lectins (SBA, STA, and LCA) were not useful in aiding in strain discrimination. An optimized panel of five lectins (AAA, ECA, Lotus A, UEA I, and WGA) grouped all 36 strains tested into eight lectin reaction patterns. For optimal typing, pretreatment by washing bacteria with a low-pH buffer to allow protein release, followed by proteolytic degradation to eliminate autoagglutination, was used. Lectin types of treated samples were stable and reproducible. No strain proved to be untypeable by this system. Electrophoretic and immunoblotting analyses of lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) indicated that the lectins interact primarily, but not solely, with the O side chain of H. pylori LPS.

The crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of a shikimate dehydrogenase from C. glutamicum is presented.

The shikimate dehydrogenase from Corynebacterium glutamicum has been cloned into an Escherichia coli expression vector, overexpressed and purified. Native crystals were obtained by the vapour-diffusion technique using 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol as a precipitant. The crystals belong to the centred monoclinic space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 118.77, b = 63.17, c = 35.67 Å, β = 92.26° (at 100 K), and diffract to 1.64 Å on a synchrotron X-ray source. The asymmetric unit is likely to contain one molecule, corresponding to a packing density of 2.08 Å3 Da−1 and a solvent content of about 41%.

The galactose-specific lectin from the seeds of a leguminous plant, D. lablab, has been crystallized. Molecular-replacement solution using 3.0 Å X-ray diffraction data showed the lectin to be a tetramer.

The galactose-specific lectin from the seeds of Dolichos lablab has been crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique. The crystals belong to space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 73.99, b = 84.13, c = 93.15 Å, α = 89.92, β = 76.01, γ = 76.99°. X-ray diffraction data to a resolution of 3.0 Å have been collected under cryoconditions (100 K) using a MAR imaging-plate detector system mounted on a rotating-anode X-ray generator. Molecular-replacement calculations carried out using the available structures of legume lectins as search models revealed that the galactose-specific lectin from D. lablab forms a tetramer similar to soybean agglutinin; two such tetramers are present in the asymmetric unit.

The purified lectins from Lotus tetragonolobus and Dolichos biflorus were coupled to Sepharose 2B to make insoluble adsorbents for purification and fractionation of blood group A and H active glycoproteins. With both adsorbents, hog gastric mucin A + H blood substance (HGM), purified by phenol-ethanol precipitation, yielded fractions showing only A, only H, or AH activities. The AH fraction was obtained when the adsorbent column was overloaded with HGM and its A and H specificities seem to be carried on the same molecules since they were not separable by chromatography on either column. However A and H specificities of blood group substance from the stomach of a presumably heterozygous individual hog were both on the same molecules as they too could not be fractionated on either column. Analytical properties of the isolated fractions were generally similar to those of the unfractionated material, the purfied A substances had a higher galactosamine/fucose ratio than did the H substances. Although the original A + H showed very little specific optical rotation, the separated A and H substances rotated positively and negatively, respectively. The lectin-Sepharose adsorbents have also proven useful in isolating A or H substances directly from the crude commercial hog gastric mucin. Blood group A2 substance from a human ovarian cyst yielded two fractions on the Lotus-Sepharose column; the effluent did not interact with the Lotus lectin but precipitated the Ulex and Dolichos lectins and anti-A, and appears to contain type 1 H determinants. The other fraction reacted with Lotus and Ulex lectin as well as with Dolichos and anti-A.

The lectin from the Nigerian legume B. mildbraedii was crystallized in complex with Man(α1-2)Man and data were collected to a resolution of 1.90 Å using synchrotron radiation.

The lectin from Bowringia mildbraedii seeds crystallizes in the presence of the disaccharide Man(α1-2)Man. The best crystals grow at 293 K within four weeks after a pre-incubation at 277 K to induce nucleation. A complete data set was collected to a resolution of 1.90 Å using synchrotron radiation. The crystals belong to space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 66.06, b = 86.35, c = 91.76 Å, and contain one lectin monomer in the asymmetric unit.

Rice lectin was crystallized and analyzed by X-ray crystallography.

Lectins with sugar-binding specificity are widely distributed in higher plants and various other species. The expression of rice lectin from Oryza sativa is up-regulated in the growing coleoptile when anaerobic stress persists. A rice lectin of molecular weight 15.2 kDa has been crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. From the diffraction of the lectin crystals at 1.93 Å resolution, the unit cell belongs to space group P31, with unit-cell parameters a = 98.58, b = 98.58, c = 44.72 Å. Preliminary analysis indicates that there are two lectin molecules in an asymmetric unit with a large solvent content, 70.1%.

Glycerol kinase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis was crystallized and preliminary crystallographic studies of the crystals were performed.

Glycerol kinase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis was crystallized and preliminary crystallographic studies of the crystals were performed. Crystals were grown at 293 K by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Native X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.4 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation at station BL44XU of SPring-8. The crystal belongs to the rhombohedral space group R3, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 217.48, c = 66.48 Å. Assuming the presence of two molecules in the asymmetric unit, the V M value was 2.7 Å3 Da−1 and the solvent content was 54.1%. The protein was also cocrystallized with substrates and diffraction data were collected to 2.7 Å resolution.