Cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of universal stress protein F (YnaF) from Salmonella typhimurium

The universal stress protein UspF (YnaF) is a small cytoplasmic bacterial protein. The expression of stress proteins is enhanced when cells are exposed to heat shock, nutrition starvation and certain other stress-inducing agents. YnaF promotes cell survival during prolonged exposure to stress and may activate a general mechanism for stress endurance. This manuscript reports preliminary crystallographic studies on YnaF from Salmonella typhimurium. The gene coding for YnaF was cloned and overexpressed and the protein was purified by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Purified YnaF was crystallized using vapour-diffusion and microbatch methods. The crystals belong to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 37.51, b = 77.18, c = 56.34 angstrom, beta = 101.8 degrees. A data set was collected to 2.5 angstrom resolution with 94.6% completeness using an image-plate detector system mounted on a rotating-anode X-ray generator. Attempts to determine the structure are in progress.