Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of a novel β-L-arabinofuranosidase (HypBA1) from Bifidobacterium longum

The beta-L-arabinofuranosidase (HypBA1) from Bifidobacterium longum JCM 1217 hydrolyzes the beta-1,2-linked arabinofuranose disaccharide to release L-arabinoses. HypBA1 was classified into glycoside hydrolase family 127 (GH127) by the CAZy website (http://www.cazy.org/). The enzyme was expressed in Escherichia coli and the purified recombinant protein was crystallized. Crystals belonging to the primitive hexagonal space group P3(x)21, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 75.9, c = 254.0 angstrom, were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method and diffracted to 2.78 angstrom resolution. A BLASTP search (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) of the Protein Data Bank did not reveal any similar crystal structures. Structural determination by using SeMet MAD and MIR methods is in progress.