1zk5: Difference between revisions

[[Image:1zk5.gif|left|200px]]<br /><applet load="1zk5" size="350" color="white" frame="true" align="right" spinBox="true"  

Since the introduction of structural genomics, the protein has been recognized as the most important variable in crystallization. Recent strategies to modify a protein to improve crystal quality have included rationally engineered point mutations, truncations, deletions and fusions. Five naturally occurring variants, differing in 1-18 amino acids, of the 177-residue lectin domain of the F17G fimbrial adhesin were expressed and purified in identical ways. For four out of the five variants crystals were obtained, mostly in non-isomorphous space groups, with diffraction limits ranging between 2.4 and 1.1 A resolution. A comparative analysis of the crystal-packing contacts revealed that the variable amino acids are often involved in lattice contacts and a single amino-acid substitution can suffice to radically change crystal packing. A statistical approach proved reliable to estimate the compatibilities of the variant sequences with the observed crystal forms. In conclusion, natural variation, universally present within prokaryotic species, is a valuable genetic resource that can be favourably employed to enhance the crystallization success rate with considerably less effort than other strategies.

1ZK5 is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_protein Single protein] structure of sequence from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escherichia_coli Escherichia coli] with <scene name='pdbligand=NAG:'>NAG</scene> as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ligand ligand]. Full crystallographic information is available from [http://oca.weizmann.ac.il/oca-bin/ocashort?id=1ZK5 OCA].  

[[Category: Genst, E De.]]

[[Category: Greve, H De.]]

[[Category: Molle, I Van.]]

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