Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the MaoC-like dehydratase from Phytophthora capsici

MaoC-like dehydratase (MaoC) plays an important role in supplying (R)-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA from the fatty-acid oxidation pathway to polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biosynthetic pathways. PHAs have been attracting much attention as they can be used in the biosynthesis of synthetic plastics. Crystals of MaoC from Phytophora capsici were grown by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 289 K in a number of screening conditions. An MaoC crystal diffracted to 1.93 A resolution using X-ray radiation and belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 81.458, b = 82.614, c = 124.228 A, alpha = beta = gamma = 90 degrees.