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The crystal structure of a conserved hypothetical protein, GK0453, from Geobacillus kaustophilus has been determined to 2.2 Å resolution. The crystal belonged to space group P4(3)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 75.69, c = 64.18 Å. The structure was determined by the molecular-replacement method and was refined to a final R factor of 22.6% (R(free) = 26.3%). Based on structural homology, the GK0453 protein possesses two independent binding sites and hence it may simultaneously interact with two proteins or with a protein and a nucleic acid.

The pyridoxal 5'-phosphate-dependent enzyme 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyase converts 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate to p-aminobenzoate and pyruvate in one of the crucial steps in the folate-biosynthesis pathway. The primary structure of the hypothetical protein TTHA0621 from Thermus thermophilus HB8 suggests that TTHA0621 is a putative 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyase. Here, the crystal structure of TTHA0621 is reported at 1.93 A resolution. The asymmetric unit contained four NCS molecules related by 222 noncrystallographic symmetry, in which the formation of intact dimers may be functionally important. The cofactor pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP) binds to the protein in the large cleft formed by the N-terminal and C-terminal domains of TTHA0621. The high structural similarity and the conservation of the functional residues in the catalytic region compared with 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyase (PabC; EC 4.1.3.38) from Escherichia coli suggest that the TTHA0621 protein may also possess 4-amino-4-deoxychorismate lyase activity.

Ribose-5-phosphate isomerase is a ubiquitous intracellular enzyme of bacterial, plant and animal origin that is involved in the pentose phosphate cycle, an essential component of cellular carbohydrate metabolism. Specifically, the enzyme catalyses the reversible conversion of ribose 5-phosphate to ribulose 5-phosphate. The structure of ribose-5-phosphate isomerase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii has been solved in space group P2(1) to 1.78 A resolution using molecular replacement with one homotetramer in the asymmetric unit and refined to an R factor of 14.8%. The active site in each subunit was occupied by two molecules of propylene glycol in different orientations, one of which corresponds to the location of the phosphate moiety and the other to the location of the furanose ring of the inhibitor.

The structure of TM1254, a putative beta-phosphoglucomutase from T. maritima, was determined to 1.74 A resolution in a high-throughput structural genomics programme. Diffraction data were obtained from crystals belonging to space group P22(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 48.16, b = 66.70, c = 83.80 A, and were refined to an R factor of 19.2%. The asymmetric unit contained one protein molecule which is comprised of two domains. Structural homologues were found from protein databases that confirmed a strong resemblance between TM1254 and members of the haloacid dehalogenase (HAD) hydrolase family.

SurE is a stationary-phase survival protein found in bacteria, eukaryotes and archaea that exhibits a divalent-metal-ion-dependent phosphatase activity and acts as a nucleotidase and polyphosphate phosphohydrolase. The structure of the SurE protein from the hyperthermophile Aquifex aeolicus has been solved at 1.5 A resolution using molecular replacement with one dimer in the asymmetric unit and refined to an R factor of 15.6%. The crystal packing reveals that two dimers assemble to form a tetramer, although gel-filtration chromatography showed the presence of only a dimer in solution. The phosphatase active-site pocket was occupied by sulfate ions from the crystallization medium.

The X-ray crystal structure of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (Mj-GAPDH) was determined to 1.81 A resolution. The crystal belonged to space group C222(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 83.4, b = 152.0, c = 118.6 A. The structure was solved by molecular replacement and was refined to a final R factor of 17.1% (R(free) = 19.8%). The final structure included the cofactor NADP(+) at the nucleotide-binding site and featured unoccupied inorganic and substrate phosphate-binding sites. A comparison with GAPDH structures from mesophilic sources suggested that Mj-GAPDH is stabilized by extensive electrostatic interactions between the C-terminal alpha-helices and various distal loop regions, which are likely to contribute to thermal stability. The key phosphate-binding residues in the active site of Mj-GAPDH are conserved in other archaeal GAPDH proteins. These residues undergo a conformational shift in response to occupancy of the inorganic phosphate site.

The structure of a probable Mo-cofactor biosynthesis protein B from Sulfolobus tokodaii, belonging to space group P6(4)22 with unit-cell parameters a = b = 136.68, c = 210.52 A, was solved by molecular replacement to a resolution of 1.9 A and refined to an R factor and R(free) of 16.8% and 18.5%, respectively. The asymmetric unit contains a trimer, while the biologically significant oligomer is predicted to be a hexamer by size-exclusion chromatography. The subunit structure and fold of ST2315 are similar to those of other enzymes that are known to be involved in the molybdopterin- and molybdenum cofactor-biosynthesis pathways.

In bacteria and plants, dihydrodipicolinate synthase (DHDPS) plays a key role in the (S)-lysine biosynthesis pathway. DHDPS catalyzes the first step of the condensation of (S)-aspartate-beta-semialdehyde and pyruvate to form an unstable compound, (4S)-4-hydroxy-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-(2S)-dipicolinic acid. The activity of DHDPS is allosterically regulated by (S)-lysine, a feedback inhibitor. The crystal structure of DHDPS from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (MjDHDPS) was solved by the molecular-replacement method and was refined to 2.2 A resolution. The structure revealed that MjDHDPS forms a functional homotetramer, as also observed in Escherichia coli DHDPS, Thermotoga maritima DHDPS and Bacillus anthracis DHDPS. The binding-site region of MjDHDPS is essentially similar to those found in other known DHDPS structures.

The crystal structure of D-lactate dehydrogenase from Aquifex aeolicus (aq_727) was determined to 2.12 A resolution in space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 90.94, b = 94.43, c = 188.85 A. The structure was solved by molecular replacement using the coenzyme-binding domain of Lactobacillus helveticus D-lactate dehydrogenase and contained two homodimers in the asymmetric unit. Each subunit of the homodimer was found to be in a ;closed' conformation with the NADH cofactor bound to the coenzyme-binding domain and with a lactate (or pyruvate) molecule bound at the interdomain active-site cleft.