Crystallization and Preliminary X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Recombinant Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Synthetase from the Thermophilic Thermus Thermophilus Strain HB27

Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetases (PRPP synthetases) are among the key enzymes essential for vital functions of organisms and are involved in the biosynthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleotides, coenzymes, and the amino acids histidine and tryptophan. These enzymes are used in biotechnology for the combined chemoenzymatic synthesis of natural nucleotide analogs. Recombinant phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase I from the thermophilic strain HB27 of the bacterium Thermus thermophilus (T. th HB27) has high thermal stability and shows maximum activity at 75 degrees C, due to which this enzyme holds promise for biotechnological applications. In order to grow crystals and study them by X-ray crystallography, an enzyme sample, which was produced using a highly efficient producer strain, was purified by affinity and gel-filtration chromatography. The screening of crystallization conditions was performed by the vapor-diffusion technique. The crystals of the enzyme suitable for X-ray diffraction were grown by the counter-diffusion method through a gel layer. These crystals were used to collect the X-ray diffraction data set at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility (Japan) to 3-angstrom resolution. The crystals belong to sp. gr. P2(1) and have the following unitcell parameters: a = 107.7 angstrom, b = 112.6 angstrom, c = 110.2 angstrom, alpha = gamma = 90 degrees, beta = 116.6 degrees. The X-ray diffraction data set is suitable for determining the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme at 3.0-angstrom resolution.