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Updated: Oct 13, 2026

Production, Crystallization and Structure Determination of C. difficile PPEP-1 via Microseeding and Zinc-SAD
Published on: December 30, 2016
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of PdxJ, the pyridoxine 5'-phosphate synthesizing
M Garrido Franco1, R Huber, F S Schmidt
1Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Structural Investigation, Am Klopferspitz 18a, D-82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Abstract:
The enzyme PdxJ catalyzes the condensation of 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) and 1-amino-3-oxo-4-(phosphohydroxy)propan-2-one to form pyridoxine 5'-phosphate (PNP). The protein from Escherichia coli has been crystallized in several forms under different conditions. The best diffracting crystals were obtained by a combination of the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion and microseeding techniques. Using an in-house image plate, the PdxJ crystals diffracted under cryo-conditions to 2.6 A resolution. The space group has been determined as C222(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 132.5, b = 154. 4, c = 131.4 A, corresponding to four monomers per asymmetric unit. In the search for heavy-atom derivatives, a mercury derivative has been interpreted. The 12 mercury sites located are related by 222 symmetry and, in combination with self-rotation search analyses and gel-filtration experiments, indicate the quaternary assembly of PdxJ into octamers with 422 symmetry.
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