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Phototropin is a blue-light receptor protein in plants that is responsible for phototropic responses, stomata opening and photo-induced relocation of chloroplasts. Higher plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana have two isoforms of phototropin: phototropin 1 and phototropin 2. Both isoforms comprise a tandem pair of blue-light-absorbing light-oxygen-voltage domains named LOV1 and LOV2 in the N-terminal half and a serine/threonine kinase domain in the C-terminal half. The LOV1 domain is thought to function as a dimerization site. In the present study, recombinant LOV1 domains of A. thaliana phototropin 1 and phototropin 2 were crystallized. The crystal of the LOV1 domain of phototropin 1 belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 61.2, b = 64.9, c = 70.8 A, and diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 2.1 A. The crystal of the LOV1 domain of phototropin 2 belonged to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 32.5, b = 66.5, c = 56.7 A, beta = 92.4 degrees , and diffracted X-rays to beyond 2.0 A resolution. In both crystals, two LOV1 domains occupied the crystallographic asymmetric unit.

Arylmalonate decarboxylase catalyses the enantioselective decarboxylation of alpha-aryl-alpha-methylmalonates to produce optically pure alpha-arylpropionates. The enzyme was crystallized with ammonium sulfate under alkaline pH conditions with the aim of understanding the mechanism of the enantioselective reaction. X-ray diffraction data collected to a resolution of 3.0 A at cryogenic temperature showed that the crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 83.13, b = 99.62, c = 139.64 A. This suggested that the asymmetric unit would contain between four and six molecules. Small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that the enzyme exists as a monomer in solution. Thus, the assembly of molecules in the asymmetric unit was likely to have been induced during the crystallization process.

The static and dynamic structures of human lysozyme at seven different temperatures ranging from 113 to 178 K were investigated by normal-mode refinement of the cryogenic X-ray diffraction data collected from a single crystal. Normal-mode refinement decomposes the mean-square fluctuations of protein atoms from their average position into the contributions from the internal degrees of freedom, which change the shape of the protein structure, and those from the external degrees of freedom, which generate rigid-body motions in the crystal. While at temperatures below 150 K the temperature dependence of the total mean-square fluctuations shows a small gradient similar to that predicted theoretically by normal-mode analysis, at temperatures above 150 K there is an apparent inflection in the temperature dependence with a higher gradient. The inflection in the temperature dependence at temperatures above 150 K occurs mostly in the external degrees of freedom. Possible causes for the dynamic transition are discussed with respect to the crystal packing and physicochemical properties of crystalline water.

Scytalone dehydratase variant F162A, in which Phe162 in the C-terminal region was replaced with alanine, was crystallized with polyethylene glycol 4000. Because the crystal was radiation-sensitive, the diffraction data were collected at cryogenic temperatures. The crystal belonged to monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 72.64, b = 61.30, c = 72.62 A, beta = 120.02 degrees at 37 K. The calculated V(M) value was acceptable when a trimer of the mutant enzyme occupied a crystallographic asymmetric unit. The resolution limit was extended to 1.45 A at BL41XU of SPring-8 at 37 K.

Recombinant glutamate dehydrogenase from a hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus profundus, was crystallized in the presence of both polyethylene glycol 8000 and lithium sulfate. Four types of crystals having different morphologies appeared in the crystallization trials; however, only one type was suitable for X-ray crystal structure analysis. The crystal belonged to the monoclinic space group P2(1) and the unit-cell parameters were a = 112.99, b = 163.70, c = 133.07 A, beta = 113.46 degrees at 110 K. The calculated V(M) value of 3.42 A(3) Da(-1) was acceptable when one hexamer of the enzyme, which was the physiological functional unit, occupied a crystallographic asymmetric unit. X-ray diffraction intensity data were collected to a resolution of 2.25 A with good statistics at the BL44B2 beamline of SPring-8.

In the purple membrane of Halobacterium salinarium, bacteriorhodopsin trimers are arranged in a hexagonal lattice. When purple membrane sheets are incubated at high temperature with neutral detergent, membrane vesicularization takes place, yielding inside-out vesicles with a diameter of 50 nm. The vesicular structure becomes unstable at low temperature, where successive fusion of the vesicles yields a crystal which is composed of stacked planar membranes. X-ray crystallographic analysis reveals that the bacteriorhodopsin trimers are arranged in a honeycomb lattice in each membrane layer and that neighbouring membranes orient in opposite directions. The native structure of the trimeric unit is preserved in the honeycomb lattice, irrespective of alterations in the in-plane orientation of the trimer. One phospholipid tightly bound to a crevice between monomers in the trimeric unit is suggested to act as a glue in the formation of the trimer.

Blasticidin S deaminase from Aspergillus terreus was crystallized with polyethylene glycol 8000. Two types of crystals were grown under the same crystallization conditions. One type grew as thin plates, while the other had a rhombic shape. The rhombic shaped crystal was suitable for high-resolution crystal structure analysis. Precession photographs and diffraction data showed that the crystal belonged to orthorhombic space group P212121, with unit-cell dimensions a = 70.33, b = 146.56 and c = 56.48 A. The calculated Vm value was acceptable when a tetramer of the enzyme was contained in an asymmetric unit. Preliminary diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.0 A with good statistics.

The crystal structures of thermostable enzyme, 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase of Thermus thermophilus (10T) and a chimeric enzyme between T. thermophilus and Bacillus subtilus with one point mutation (cS82R), were determined at both 100 and 150 K. At the cryogenic condition, the volume of the unit cell decreased by 5% as a result of a contraction in the solvent region. Although the overall structures of both enzymes at low temperature were the same as that of 10T at room temperature, interactions between two domains and between two subunits in a functional dimer of cS82R were significantly altered. The decrease in the average temperature factor of 10T at low temperature and no significant decrease for cS82R suggested that the structure of the engineered enzyme (cS82R) may have many conformational substates even at low temperature, while the native enzyme (10T) at low temperature has a more definite conformation than that at room temperature. The location of water molecules around the enzyme molecule and the calculation of the radii of gyration suggested that cS82R had a weaker hydration than 10T.