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Summary

The Escherichia coli serotype O9a O-antigen polysaccharide (O-PS) is a model for glycan biosynthesis and export by the ATP-binding cassette transporter-dependent pathway. The polymannose O9a O-PS is synthesized as a polyprenol-linked glycan by mannosyltransferase enzymes located at the cytoplasmic membrane. The chain length of the O9a O-PS is tightly regulated by the WbdD enzyme. WbdD first phosphorylates the terminal non-reducing mannose of the O-PS and then methylates the phosphate, stopping polymerization. The 2.2 Å resolution structure of WbdD reveals a bacterial methyltransferase domain joined to a eukaryotic kinase domain. The kinase domain is again fused to an extended C-terminal coiled-coil domain reminiscent of eukaryotic DMPK (Myotonic Dystrophy Protein Kinase) family kinases such as Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK). WbdD phosphorylates 2-α-d-mannosyl-d-mannose (2α-MB), a short mimic of the O9a polymer. Mutagenesis identifies those residues important in catalysis and substrate recognition and the in vivo phenotypes of these mutants are used to dissect the termination reaction. We have determined the structures of co-complexes of WbdD with two known eukaryotic protein kinase inhibitors. Although these are potent inhibitors in vitro, they do not show any in vivo activity. The structures reveal new insight into O-PS chain-length regulation in this important model system.

Summary

The Escherichia coli serotype O9a O-antigen polysaccharide (O-PS) is a model for glycan biosynthesis and export by the ATP-binding cassette transporter-dependent pathway. The polymannose O9a O-PS is synthesized as a polyprenol-linked glycan by mannosyltransferase enzymes located at the cytoplasmic membrane. The chain length of the O9a O-PS is tightly regulated by the WbdD enzyme. WbdD first phosphorylates the terminal non-reducing mannose of the O-PS and then methylates the phosphate, stopping polymerization. The 2.2 Å resolution structure of WbdD reveals a bacterial methyltransferase domain joined to a eukaryotic kinase domain. The kinase domain is again fused to an extended C-terminal coiled-coil domain reminiscent of eukaryotic DMPK (Myotonic Dystrophy Protein Kinase) family kinases such as Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK). WbdD phosphorylates 2-α-d-mannosyl-d-mannose (2α-MB), a short mimic of the O9a polymer. Mutagenesis identifies those residues important in catalysis and substrate recognition and the in vivo phenotypes of these mutants are used to dissect the termination reaction. We have determined the structures of co-complexes of WbdD with two known eukaryotic protein kinase inhibitors. Although these are potent inhibitors in vitro, they do not show any in vivo activity. The structures reveal new insight into O-PS chain-length regulation in this important model system.

The C-terminal protease domain of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) nsP2 has been overexpressed in E. coli, purified and successfully crystallized. Native crystals diffract to beyond 2.5 Å resolution and isomorphous heavy-atom derivatives suitable for phase analysis have been identified.

The C-terminal region of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) nsP2 is responsible for proteolytic processing of the VEEV polyprotein replication complex. This action regulates the activity of the replication complex and is essential for viral replication, thus making nsP2 a very attractive target for development of VEEV therapeutics. The 338-amino-acid C-terminal region of VEEV nsP2 has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized. Crystals diffract to beyond 2.5 Å resolution and belong to the orthorhombic space group P212121. Isomorphous heavy-atom derivatives suitable for phase analysis have been obtained and work on building a complete structural model is under way.

Glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (UgpG) from S. elodea ATCC 31461 has been expressed, purified and crystallized. Seven crystal forms were obtained and characterized to a maximum resolution of 2.65 Å.

The cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (UgpG) from Sphingomonas elodea ATCC 31461 bound to glucose-1-phosphate are reported. Diffraction data sets were obtained from seven crystal forms in five different space groups, with highest resolutions ranging from 4.20 to 2.65 Å. The phase problem was solved for a P21 crystal form using multiple isomorphous replacement with anomalous scattering from an osmium derivative and a SeMet derivative. The best native crystal in space group P21 has unit-cell parameters a = 105.5, b = 85.7, c = 151.8 Å, β = 105.2°. Model building and refinement are currently under way.

E. coli bacterioferritin was crystallized in a novel crystal form from different conditions and the structure was solved. The crystals belonged to space group P213 and diffracted to a resolution of 2.5 Å.

Escherichia coli bacterioferritin was serendipitously crystallized in a novel cubic crystal form and its structure could be determined to 2.5 Å resolution despite a high degree of merohedral twinning. This is the first report of crystallographic data on ‘as-isolated’ E. coli bacterioferritin. The ferroxidase active site contains positive difference density consistent with two metal ions that had co-purified with the protein. X-ray fluorescence studies suggest that the metal composition is different from that of previous structures and is a mix of zinc and native iron ions. The ferroxidase-centre configuration displays a similar flexibility as previously noted for other bacterioferritins.

The plant enzyme pavine N-methyltransferase from T. flavum has been produced in E. coli, purified and crystallized and its structure has been solved.

A cDNA from the plant Thalictrum flavum encoding pavine N-methyltrans­ferase, an enzyme belonging to a novel class of S-adenosylmethionine-dependent N-methyltransferases specific for benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, has been heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzyme was purified using affinity and gel-filtration chromatography and was crystallized in space group P21. The structure was solved at 2.0 Å resolution using a xenon derivative and the single isomorphous replacement with anomalous scattering method.

Clitocypin is a cysteine protease inhibitor from the mushroom Clitocybe nebularis. The protein has been purified from natural sources and crystallized in a variety of non-isomorphous forms belonging to monoclinic and triclinic space groups.

Clitocypin is a cysteine protease inhibitor from the mushroom Clitocybe nebularis. The protein has been purified from natural sources and crystallized in a variety of non-isomorphous forms belonging to monoclinic and triclinic space groups. A diffraction data set to 1.55 Å resolution was obtained from a crystal belonging to space group P2, with unit-cell parameters a = 38.326, b = 33.597, c = 55.568 Å, β = 104°. An inability to achieve isomorphism forced the use of MAD and SAD phasing methods. Phasing is in progress.

A new approach is presented that allows the efficient localization and orientation of heavy-atom cluster compounds used in experimental phasing by a molecular replacement procedure. This permits the calculation of meaningful phases up to the highest resolution of the diffraction data.

Heavy-atom clusters (HA clusters) containing a large number of specifically arranged electron-dense scatterers are especially useful for experimental phase determination of large complex structures, weakly diffracting crystals or structures with large unit cells. Often, the determination of the exact orientation of the HA cluster and hence of the individual heavy-atom positions proves to be the critical step in successful phasing and subsequent structure solution. Here, it is demonstrated that molecular replacement (MR) with either anomalous or isomorphous differences is a useful strategy for the correct placement of HA cluster compounds. The polyoxometallate cluster hexasodium α-metatungstate (HMT) was applied in phasing the structure of death receptor 6. Even though the HA cluster is bound in alternate partially occupied orientations and is located at a special position, its correct localization and orientation could be determined at resolutions as low as 4.9 Å. The broad applicability of this approach was demonstrated for five different derivative crystals that included the compounds tantalum tetradeca­bromide and trisodium phosphotungstate in addition to HMT. The correct placement of the HA cluster depends on the length of the intramolecular vectors chosen for MR, such that both a larger cluster size and the optimal choice of the wavelength used for anomalous data collection strongly affect the outcome.

Understanding how Nep-like proteins (NLPs) behave during the cell cycle and disease progression of plant pathogenic oomycetes, fungi and bacteria is crucial in light of compelling evidence that these proteins play a role in Witches` Broom Disease (WBD) of Theobroma cacao, one of the most important phytopathological problems to afflict the Southern Hemisphere. The crystal structure of MpNep2, a member of the NLP family and the causal agent of WBD, revealed the key elements for its activity. This protein has the ability to refold after heating and was believed to act as a monomer in solution, in contrast to the related homologs MpNep1 and NPP from the oomyceteous fungus Phytophthora parasitica. Here, we identify and characterize a metastable MpNep2 dimer upon over-expression in Escherichia coli using different biochemical and structural approaches. We found using ultra-fast liquid chromatography that the MpNep2 dimer can be dissociated by heating but not by dilution, oxidation or high ionic strength. Small-angle X-ray scattering revealed a possible tail-to-tail interaction between monomers, and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements identified perturbed residues involved in the putative interface of interaction. We also explored the ability of the MpNep2 monomer to refold after heating or chemical denaturation. We observed that MpNep2 has a low stability and cooperative fold that could be an explanation for its structure and activity recovery after stress. These results can provide new insights into the mechanism for MpNep2′s action in dicot plants during the progression of WBD and may open new avenues for the involvement of NLP- oligomeric species in phytopathological disorders.

wbdA is a mannosyltransferase gene that is involved in synthesis of the Escherichia coli O9a polysaccharide, a mannose homopolymer with a repeating unit of 2-αMan-1,2-αMan-1,3-αMan-1,3-αMan-1. The equivalent structural O polysaccharide in the E. coli O9 and Klebsiella O3 strains is 2-αMan-1,2-αMan-1,2-αMan-1,3-αMan-1,3-αMan-1, with an excess of one mannose in the 1,2 linkage. We have cloned wbdA genes from these O9 and O3 strains and shown by genetic and functional studies that wbdA is the only gene determining the O-polysaccharide structure of O9 or O9a. Based on functional analysis of chimeric genes and site-directed mutagenesis, we showed that a single amino acid substitution, C55R, in WbdA of E. coli O9 converts the O9 polysaccharide into O9a. DNA sequencing revealed the substitution to be conserved in other E. coli O9a strains. The reverse substitution, R55C, in WbdA of E. coli O9a resulted in lipopolysaccharide synthesis showing no ladder profile instead of the conversion of O9a to O9. This suggests that more than one amino acid substitution in WbdA is required for conversion from O9a to O9.

The structure of the decameric inducible lysine decarboxylase from E. coli was determined by SIRAS using a hexatantalum dodecabromide (Ta6Br12 2+) derivative. Model building and refinement are under way.

The decameric inducible lysine decarboxylase (LdcI) from Escherichia coli has been crystallized in space groups C2 and C2221; the Ta6Br12 2+ cluster was used to derivatize the C2 crystals. The method of single isomorphous replacement with anomalous scattering (SIRAS) as implemented in SHELXD was used to solve the Ta6Br12 2+-derivatized structure to 5 Å resolution. Many of the Ta6Br12 2+-binding sites had twofold and fivefold noncrystallographic symmetry. Taking advantage of this feature, phase modification was performed in DM. The electron-density map of LdcI displays many features in agreement with the low-resolution negative-stain electron-density map [Snider et al. (2006 ▶), J. Biol. Chem. 281, 1532–1546].

Wzi is a membrane protein from E. coli thought to be involved in the attachment of capsular polysaccharides to the bacterial surface. This reports describes recombinant Wzi’s purification, crystallization and the results of initial diffraction studies.

External polysaccharide capsules provide a physical barrier that is employed by many species of bacteria for the purposes of host evasion and persistence. Wzi is a 53 kDa outer membrane β-barrel protein that is thought to play a role in the attachment of group 1 capsular polysaccharides to the cell surface. The purification and crystallization of an Escherichia coli homologue of Wzi is reported and diffraction data from native and selenomethionine-incorporated protein crystals are presented. Crystals of C-terminally His6-tagged Wzi diffracted to 2.8 Å resolution. Data processing showed that the crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group C222, with unit-cell parameters a = 128.8, b = 152.8, c = 94.4 Å, α = β = γ = 90°. A His-tagged selenomethionine-containing variant of Wzi has also been crystallized in the same space group and diffraction data have been recorded to 3.8 Å resolution. Data processing shows that the variant crystal has similar unit-cell parameters to the native crystal.

A case of imperfect pseudo-merohedral twinning in monoclinic crystals of fungal fatty acid synthase is discussed. A space-group transition during crystal dehydration resulted in a Moiré pattern-like interference of the twinned diffraction patterns.

The recent high-resolution structures of fungal fatty acid synthase (FAS) have provided new insights into the principles of fatty acid biosynthesis by large multifunctional enzymes. The crystallographic phase problem for the 2.6 MDa fungal FAS was initially solved to 5 Å resolution using two crystal forms from Thermomyces lanuginosus. Monoclinic crystals in space group P21 were obtained from orthorhombic crystals in space group P212121 by dehydration. Here, it is shown how this space-group transition induced imperfect pseudo-merohedral twinning in the monoclinic crystal, giving rise to a Moiré pattern-like interference of the two twin-related reciprocal lattices. The strategy for processing the twinned diffraction images and obtaining a quantitative analysis is presented. The twinning is also related to the packing of the molecules in the two crystal forms, which was derived from self-rotation function analysis and molecular-replacement solutions using a low-resolution electron microscopy map as a search model.

The M. tuberculosis protein Rv0765c was cloned, expressed, purified and crystallized. In an attempt to improve the quality of the crystals of Rv0765c, the protein was modified by reductive methylation. The methylated protein crystallized in a new crystal form with profoundly improved diffraction properties.

Rv0765c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis was cloned and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. It was purified using affinity and size-exclusion chromatographic techniques and crystallized. The native protein crystallized in a hexagonal crystal form which diffracted to 7 Å resolution. In an attempt to improve the quality of the Rv0765c crystals, the protein was modified by reductive methylation using dimethylaminoborane and formaldehyde. The modified protein crystallized under different conditions in a tetragonal crystal form, from which diffraction data could be collected to a resolution of 3.2 Å. In both crystal forms of Rv0765c, the asymmetric unit contained two copies of the protein molecule.

Glycosylated recombinant bifunctional nuclease from tomato has been crystallized and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis was performed.

The endonuclease TBN1 from Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) was expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and purified with suitable quality and in suitable quantities for crystallization experiments. Two crystal forms (orthorhombic and rhombohedral) were obtained and X-ray diffraction experiments were performed. The presence of natively bound Zn2+ ions was confirmed by X-ray fluorescence and by an absorption-edge scan. X-ray diffraction data were collected from the orthorhombic (resolution of 5.2 Å) and rhombohedral (best resolution of 3.2 Å) crystal forms. SAD, MAD and MR methods were applied for solution of the phase problem, with partial success. TBN1 contains three Zn2+ ions in a similar spatial arrangement to that observed in nuclease P1 from Penicillium citrinum.

Background

Despite being one of the first documented, there is little known of the causative agent or environmental stressors that promote white-band disease (WBD), a major disease of Caribbean Acropora palmata. Likewise, there is little known about the spatiality of outbreaks. We examined the spatial patterns of WBD during a 2004 outbreak at Buck Island Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Ripley's K statistic was used to measure spatial dependence of WBD across scales. Localized clusters of WBD were identified using the DMAP spatial filtering technique. Statistics were calculated for colony- (number of A. palmata colonies with and without WBD within each transect) and transect-level (presence/absence of WBD within transects) data to evaluate differences in spatial patterns at each resolution of coral sampling. The Ripley's K plots suggest WBD does cluster within the study area, and approached statistical significance (p = 0.1) at spatial scales of 1100 m or less. Comparisons of DMAP results suggest the transect-level overestimated the prevalence and spatial extent of the outbreak. In contrast, more realistic prevalence estimates and spatial patterns were found by weighting each transect by the number of individual A. palmata colonies with and without WBD.

Conclusions

As the search for causation continues, surveillance and proper documentation of the spatial patterns may inform etiology, and at the same time assist reef managers in allocating resources to tracking the disease. Our results indicate that the spatial scale of data collected can drastically affect the calculation of prevalence and spatial distribution of WBD outbreaks. Specifically, we illustrate that higher resolution sampling resulted in more realistic disease estimates. This should assist in selecting appropriate sampling designs for future outbreak investigations. The spatial techniques used here can be used to facilitate other coral disease studies, as well as, improve reef conservation and management.

MosA from S. meliloti L5-30 has been crystallized in solution with pyruvate and the 2.3 Å resolution structure has been solved by molecular replacement using E. coli dihydrodipicolinate synthase as the model.

The structure of MosA, a dihydrodipicolinate synthase and reported methyltransferase from Sinorhizobium meliloti, has been solved using molecular replacement with Escherichia coli dihydrodipicolinate synthase as the model. A crystal grown in the presence of pyruvate diffracted X-rays to 2.3 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation and belonged to the orthorhombic space group C2221, with unit-cell parameters a = 69.14, b = 138.87, c = 124.13 Å.

Crystallization of the cystine-knot protein Spätzle occurred following serendipitous limited degradation of the pro-Spätzle propeptide during the crystallization experiment.

The Spätzle protein is involved in both the definition of the dorsal–ventral axis during embryonic development and in the adult innate immune response. The disulfide-linked dimeric cystine-knot protein has been expressed as a proprotein in inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli and refolded in vitro by rapid dilution. Initial orthorhombic crystals that diffracted to 7 Å resolution were obtained after three months by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. Optimization of the crystallization conditions resulted in orthorhombic crystals (space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 53.0, b = 59.2, c = 62.5 Å) that diffracted to 2.8 Å resolution in-house. The small volume of the asymmetric unit indicated that it was not possible for the crystals to contain the complete pro-Spätzle dimer. Mass spectrometry, N-terminal sequencing and Western-blot analysis revealed that the crystals contained the C-terminal disulfide-linked cystine-knot dimer. Comparison of various crystallization experiments indicated that degradation of the N-terminal prodomain was dependent on the buffer conditions.

VSP1 from Arabidopsis thaliana was expressed in E. coli, purified and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.9 Å resolution.

VSP1 is a defence protein in Arabidopsis thaliana that may also be involved in control of plant development. The recombinant protein has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystal diffracted to 1.9 Å resolution and a complete X-­ray data set was collected at 100 K using Cu Kα radiation from a rotating-anode X-ray source. The crystals belonged to space group C2. As there are no related structures that could be used as a search model for molecular replacement, work is in progress on experimental phasing using heavy-atom derivatives and selenomethionine derivatives.

The E. coli TehB methyltransferase has been purified and crystallized in the presence of SAM and sinefungin. Diffraction data have been collected to 1.9 Å resolution for both complexes.

TehB is an S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) dependent methyltransferase that detoxifies tellurite in bacteria. The Escherichia coli TehB protein was purified and crystallized in the presence of both SAM and sinefungin. The TehB–SAM and TehB–sinefungin crystals both diffracted X-rays to 1.9 Å resolution. The TehB–SAM crystals belonged to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 60.0, b = 56.1, c = 130.6 Å, β = 97.9°. The TehB–sinefungin crystals belonged to space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 59.1, b = 55.5, c = 129.7 Å, β = 95.9°.

The structure of the synthetic deoxyoctamer d(GGIGCTCC) has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction techniques to a resolution of 1.7A. The sequence crystallises in space group P6(1), with unit cell dimensions a = b = 45.07, c = 45.49A. The refinement converged with a crystallographic residual R = 0.14 and the location of 81 solvent molecules. The octamer forms an A-DNA duplex with 6 Watson-Crick (G.C) base pairs and 2 inosine-thymine (I.T) pairs. Refinement of the structure shows it to be essentially isomorphous with that reported for d(GGGGCTCC) with the mispairs adopting a "wobble" conformation. Conformational parameters and base stacking interactions are compared to those for the native duplex d(GGGGCCCC) and other similar sequences. A rationale for the apparent increased crystal packing efficiency and lattice stability of the I.T octamer is given.

Aldehyde dehydrogenases catalyze the oxidation of aldehyde substrates to the corresponding carboxylic acids. Lactaldehyde dehydrogenase from E. coli (aldA gene product, P25553) is an NAD+-dependent enzyme implicated in the metabolism of L-fucose and L-rhamnose. During the heterologous expression and purification of taxadiene synthase from the Pacific yew, lactaldehyde dehydrogenase from E. coli was identified as a minor (≤ 5%) side product subsequent to its unexpected crystallization. Accordingly, we now report the serendipitous crystal structure determination of unliganded lactaldehyde dehydrogenase from E. coli determined by the technique of multiple isomorphous replacement using anomalous scattering at 2.2 Å... resolution. Additionally, we report the crystal structure of the ternary enzyme complex with products lactate and NADH at 2.1 Å... resolution, and the crystal structure of the enzyme complex with NADPH at 2.7 Å... resolution. The structure of the ternary complex reveals that the nicotinamide ring of the cofactor is disordered between two conformations: one with the ring positioned in the active site in the so-called “hydrolysis” conformation, and another with the ring extended out of the active site into the solvent region, designated the “out” conformation. This represents the first crystal structure of an aldehyde dehydrogenase-product complex. The active site pocket in which lactate binds is more constricted than that of medium-chain dehydrogenases such as the YdcW gene product of E. coli. The structure of the binary complex with NADPH reveals the first view of the structural basis of specificity for NADH: the negatively charged carboxylate group of E179 sterically and electrostatically destabilizes the binding of the 2′-phosphate group of NADPH, thereby accounting for the lack of enzyme activity with this cofactor.

An archaeal 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydrobiopterin synthase homologue from P. horikoshii OT3 was overexpressed as native and selenomethionine-substituted protein, purified and crystallized. The native and selenomethionine-derivative crystals are isomorphous and diffract X-rays to 2.1 and 2.9 Å resolution, respectively.

6-Pyruvoyl tetrahydrobiopterin synthase (PTPS) catalyses the conversion of dihydroneopterin triphosphate to 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin, the second of the three enzymatic steps in the synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin from GTP. PH0634, a 13.51 kDa archaeal PTPS homologue from Pyrococcus horikoshii OT3, was overexpressed as native and selenomethionine-substituted protein and the purified protein was crystallized by the oil-microbatch method at 295 K. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 2.1 Å resolution from the native crystal using synchrotron radiation at 100 K. The crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell parameters a = 35.83, b = 95.71, c = 105.65 Å. Threefold noncrystallographic symmetry was identified from self-rotation calculations. Assuming the presence of a trimer in the asymmetric unit, the solvent content is 45% (V M = 2.24 Å3 Da−1). The selenomethionine-substituted crystal is isomorphous to the native crystal and diffracts X-rays to 2.9 Å.

The expression, purification and crystallization of the collagen-binding region of the E. rhusiopathiae surface protein RspB is described. The crystals diffracted to 2.2 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation.

RspB is a surface adhesin of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. A recombinant form of the collagen-binding region of this protein, RspB(31–348), has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli in native and selenomethionine-derivative forms and purified using affinity and gel-permeation chromatography. Thin plate-like crystals were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using the same condition for both forms. The native crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.5 Å using an in-house X-ray source, while the selenomethionine-derivative crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.2 Å using synchrotron radiation. The crystals belonged to the monoclinic space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 46.19, b = 66.65, c = 101.72 Å, β = 94.11°.

N-Acetylglucosamine 1-phosphate uridyltransferase (GlmU) from M. tuberculosis H37Rv has been crystallized and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis has been performed. GlmU is a bi-domained bifunctional enzyme that is involved in the biosynthesis of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, a precursor in peptidoglycan biosynthesis in M. tuberculosis.

The gene product of open reading frame Rv1018c from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is annotated as encoding a probable N-acetylglucosamine 1-­phosphate uridylyltransferase (MtbGlmU), an enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, a precursor common to lipopolysaccharide and peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Following overexpression in Escherichia coli, the enzyme was purified and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Native diffraction data were collected from crystals belonging to space group R32 and processed to a resolution of 2.2 Å.