Bacillus thuringiensis chimeric proteins Cry1A.2 and Cry1B.2 to control soybean lepidopteran pests: New domain combinations enhance insecticidal spectrum of activity and novel receptor contributions

Two new chimeric Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins, Cry1A.2 and Cry1B.2, were constructed using specific domains, which provide insecticidal activity against key lepidopteran soybean pests while minimizing receptor overlaps between themselves, current, and soon to be commercialized plant incorporated protectants (PIP's) in soybean. Results from insect diet bioassays demonstrate that the recombinant Cry1A.2 and Cry1B.2 are toxic to soybean looper (SBL) Chrysodeixis includens Walker, velvetbean caterpillar (VBC) Anticarsia gemmatalis Hubner, southern armyworm (SAW) Spodoptera eridania, and black armyworm (BLAW) Spodoptera cosmioides with LC50 values < 3,448 ng/cm2. Cry1B.2 is of moderate activity with significant mortality and stunting at > 3,448 ng/cm2, while Cry1A.2 lacks toxicity against old-world bollworm (OWB) Helicoverpa armigera. Results from disabled insecticidal protein (DIP) bioassays suggest that receptor utilization of Cry1A.2 and Cry1B.2 proteins are distinct from each other and from current, and yet to be commercially available, Bt proteins in soy such as Cry1Ac, Cry1A.105, Cry1F.842, Cry2Ab2 and Vip3A. However, as Cry1A.2 contains a domain common to at least one commercial soybean Bt protein, resistance to this common domain in a current commercial soybean Bt protein could possibly confer at least partial cross resistance to Cry1A2. Therefore, Cry1A.2 and Cry1B.2 should provide two new tools for controlling many of the major soybean insect pests described above.

Development of enzymes for robust aryloxyphenoxypropionate and synthetic auxin herbicide tolerance traits in maize and soybean crops

BACKGROUND

Effective management of weedy species in agricultural fields is essential for maintaining favorable growing conditions and crop yields. The introduction of genetically modified crops containing herbicide tolerance traits has been a successful additional tool available to farmers to better control weeds. However, weed resistance challenges present a need for additional herbicide tolerance trait options.

RESULTS

To help meet this challenge, a new trait that provides tolerance to an aryloxyphenoxypropionate (FOP) herbicide and members of the synthetic auxin herbicide family, such as 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), was developed. Development of this herbicide tolerance trait employed an enzyme engineered with robust and specific enzymatic activity for these two herbicide families. This engineering effort utilized a microbial-sourced dioxygenase scaffold to generate variants with improved enzymatic parameters. Additional optimization to enhance in-plant stability of the enzyme enabled an efficacious trait that can withstand the higher temperature conditions often found in field environments.

CONCLUSION

Optimized herbicide tolerance enzyme variants with enhanced enzymatic and temperature stability parameters enabled robust herbicide tolerance for two herbicide families in transgenic maize and soybeans. This herbicide tolerance trait for FOP and synthetic auxin herbicides such as 2,4-D could be useful in weed management systems, providing additional tools for farmers to control weeds. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Disabled insecticidal proteins: A novel tool to understand differences in insect receptor utilization

The development of insect resistance to pesticides via natural selection is an acknowledged agricultural issue. Likewise, resistance development in target insect populations is a significant challenge to the durability of crop traits conferring insect protection and has driven the need for novel insecticidal proteins (IPs) with alternative mechanism of action (MOA) mediated by different insect receptors. The combination or "stacking" of transgenes encoding different insecticidal proteins in a single crop plant can greatly delay the development of insect resistance, but requires sufficient knowledge of MOA to identify proteins with different receptor preferences. Accordingly, a rapid technique for differentiating the receptor binding preferences of insecticidal proteins is a critical need. This article introduces the Disabled Insecticidal Protein (DIP) method as applied to the well-known family of three-domain insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis and related bacteria. These DIP's contain amino acid substitutions in domain 1 that render the proteins non-toxic but still capable of competing with active proteins in insect feeding assays, resulting in a suppression of the expected insecticidal activity. A set of insecticidal proteins with known differences in receptor binding (Cry1Ab3, Cry1Ac.107, Cry2Ab2, Cry1Ca, Cry1A.105, and Cry1A.1088) has been studied using the DIP method, yielding results that are consistent with previous MOA studies. When a native IP and an excess of DIP are co-administered to insects in a feeding assay, the outcome depends on the overlap between their MOAs: if receptors are shared, then the DIP saturates the receptors to which the native protein would ordinarily bind, and acts as an antidote whereas, if there is no shared receptor, the toxicity of the native insecticidal protein is not inhibited. These results suggest that the DIP methodology, employing standard insect feeding assays, is a robust and effective method for rapid MOA differentiation among insecticidal proteins.

A transgenic approach for controlling Lygus in cotton

Lygus species of plant-feeding insects have emerged as economically important pests of cotton in the United States. These species are not controlled by commercial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton varieties resulting in economic losses and increased application of insecticide. Previously, a Bt crystal protein (Cry51Aa2) was reported with insecticidal activity against Lygus spp. However, transgenic cotton plants expressing this protein did not exhibit effective protection from Lygus feeding damage. Here we employ various optimization strategies, informed in part by protein crystallography and modelling, to identify limited amino-acid substitutions in Cry51Aa2 that increase insecticidal activity towards Lygus spp. by >200-fold. Transgenic cotton expressing the variant protein, Cry51Aa2.834_16, reduce populations of Lygus spp. up to 30-fold in whole-plant caged field trials. One transgenic event, designated MON88702, has been selected for further development of cotton varieties that could potentially reduce or eliminate insecticide application for control of Lygus and the associated environmental impacts.

Plant-feeding insects of the Lygus genus have emerged as a major pest effecting cotton crops in the USA. Here the authors optimize the insecticidal activity of a Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein and produce transgenic plants that are resistant to feeding damage by Lygus species.

Mechanistic insights into the first Lygus-active β-pore forming protein

The cotton pests Lygus hesperus and Lygus lineolaris can be controlled by expressing Cry51Aa2.834_16 in cotton. Insecticidal activity of pore-forming proteins is generally associated with damage to the midgut epithelium due to pores, and their biological specificity results from a set of key determinants including proteolytic activation and receptor binding. We conducted mechanistic studies to gain insight into how the first Lygus-active β-pore forming protein variant functions. Biophysical characterization revealed that the full-length Cry51Aa2.834_16 was a stable dimer in solution, and when exposed to Lygus saliva or to trypsin, the protein underwent proteolytic cleavage at the C-terminus of each of the subunits, resulting in dissociation of the dimer to two separate monomers. The monomer showed tight binding to a specific protein in Lygus brush border membranes, and also formed a membrane-associated oligomeric complex both in vitro and in vivo. Chemically cross-linking the β-hairpin to the Cry51Aa2.834_16 body rendered the protein inactive, but still competent to compete for binding sites with the native protein in vivo. Our study suggests that disassociation of the Cry51Aa2.834_16 dimer into monomeric units with unoccupied head-region and sterically unhindered β-hairpin is required for brush border membrane binding, oligomerization, and the subsequent steps leading to insect mortality.

Structure of the full-length insecticidal protein Cry1Ac reveals intriguing details of toxin packaging into in vivo formed crystals

For almost half a century, the structure of the full-length Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal protein Cry1Ac has eluded researchers, since Bt-derived crystals were first characterized in 1965. Having finally solved this structure we report intriguing details of the lattice-based interactions between the toxic core of the protein and the protoxin domains. The structure provides concrete evidence for the function of the protoxin as an enhancer of native crystal packing and stability.

Dicamba monooxygenase: structural insights into a dynamic Rieske oxygenase that catalyzes an exocyclic monooxygenation

Dicamba (2-methoxy-3,6-dichlorobenzoic acid) O-demethylase (DMO) is the terminal Rieske oxygenase of a three-component system that includes a ferredoxin and a reductase. It catalyzes the NADH-dependent oxidative demethylation of the broad leaf herbicide dicamba. DMO represents the first crystal structure of a Rieske non-heme iron oxygenase that performs an exocyclic monooxygenation, incorporating O(2) into a side-chain moiety and not a ring system. The structure reveals a 3-fold symmetric trimer (alpha(3)) in the crystallographic asymmetric unit with similar arrangement of neighboring inter-subunit Rieske domain and non-heme iron site enabling electron transport consistent with other structurally characterized Rieske oxygenases. While the Rieske domain is similar, differences are observed in the catalytic domain, which is smaller in sequence length than those described previously, yet possessing an active-site cavity of larger volume when compared to oxygenases with larger substrates. Consistent with the amphipathic substrate, the active site is designed to interact with both the carboxylate and aromatic ring with both key polar and hydrophobic interactions observed. DMO structures were solved with and without substrate (dicamba), product (3,6-dichlorosalicylic acid), and either cobalt or iron in the non-heme iron site. The substitution of cobalt for iron revealed an uncommon mode of non-heme iron binding trapped by the non-catalytic Co(2+), which, we postulate, may be transiently present in the native enzyme during the catalytic cycle. Thus, we present four DMO structures with resolutions ranging from 1.95 to 2.2 A, which, in sum, provide a snapshot of a dynamic enzyme where metal binding and substrate binding are coupled to observed structural changes in the non-heme iron and catalytic sites.

Characterization and crystal structure of lysine insensitive Corynebacterium glutamicum dihydrodipicolinate synthase (cDHDPS) protein

The lysine insensitive Corynebacterium glutamicum dihydrodipicolinate synthase enzyme (cDHDPS) was recently successfully introduced into maize plants to enhance the level of lysine in the grain. To better understand lysine insensitivity of the cDHDPS, we expressed, purified, kinetically characterized the protein, and solved its X-ray crystal structure. The cDHDPS enzyme has a fold and overall structure that is highly similar to other DHDPS proteins. A noteworthy feature of the active site is the evidence that the catalytic lysine residue forms a Schiff base adduct with pyruvate. Analyses of the cDHDPS structure in the vicinity of the putative binding site for S-lysine revealed that the allosteric binding site in the Escherichia coli DHDPS protein does not exist in cDHDPS due to three non-conservative amino acids substitutions, and this is likely why cDHDPS is not feedback inhibited by lysine.

The crystal structure, mutagenesis, and activity studies reveal that patatin is a lipid acyl hydrolase with a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad

Patatin is a nonspecific lipid acyl hydrolase that accounts for approximately 40% of the total soluble protein in mature potato tubers, and it has potent insecticidal activity against the corn rootworm. We determined the X-ray crystal structure of a His-tagged variant of an isozyme of patatin, Pat17, to 2.2 A resolution, employing SeMet multiwavelength anomalous dispersion (MAD) phasing methods. The patatin crystal structure has three molecules in the asymmetric unit, an R-factor of 22.0%, and an R(free) of 27.2% (for 10% of the data not included in the refinement) and includes 498 water molecules. The structure notably revealed that patatin has a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad and an active site like that of human cytosolic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) [Dessen, A., et al. (1999) Cell 97, 349-360]. In addition, patatin has a folding topology related to that of the catalytic domain of cPLA(2) and unlike the canonical alpha/beta-hydrolase fold. The structure confirms our site-directed mutagenesis and bioactivity data that initially suggested patatin possessed a Ser-Asp catalytic dyad. Alanine-scanning mutagenesis revealed that Ser77 and Asp215 were critical for both esterase and bioactivity, consistent with prior work implicating a Ser residue [Strickland, J. H., et al. (1995) Plant Physiol. 109, 667-674] and a Ser-Asp dyad [Hirschberg, H. J. H. B., et al. (2001) Eur. J. Biochem. 268, 5037-5044] in patatin's catalytic activity. The crystal structure aids the understanding of other structure-function relationships in patatin. Patatin does not display interfacial activation, a hallmark feature of lipases, and this is likely due to the fact that it lacks a flexible lid that can shield the active site.

Crystal structure of the stromelysin catalytic domain at 2.0 A resolution: inhibitor-induced conformational changes

Matrix metalloproteinases are believed to play an important role in pathological conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and tumor invasion. Stromelysin is a zinc-dependent proteinase and a member of the matrix metalloproteinase family. We have solved the crystal structure of an active uninhibited form of truncated stromelysin and a complex with a hydroxamate-based inhibitor. The catalytic domain of the enzyme of residues 83-255 is an active fragment. Two crystallographically independent molecules, A and B, associate as a dimer in the crystals. There are three alpha-helices and one twisted, five-strand beta-sheet in each molecule, as well as one catalytic Zn, one structural Zn and three structural Ca ions. The active site of stromelysin is located in a large, hydrophobic cleft. In particular, the S1' specificity site is a deep and highly hydrophobic cavity. The structure of a hydroxamate-phosphinamide-type inhibitor-bound stromelysin complex, formed by diffusion soaking, has been solved as part of our structure-based design strategy. The most important feature we observed is an inhibitor-induced conformational change in the S1' cavity which is triggered by Tyr223. In the uninhibited enzyme structure, Tyr223 completely covers the S1' cavity, while in the complex, the P1' group of the inhibitor displaces the Tyr223 in order to fit into the S1' cavity. Furthermore, the displacement of Tyr223 induces a major conformational change of the entire loop from residue 222 to residue 231. This finding provides direct evidence that Tyr223 plays the role of gatekeeper of the S1' cavity. Another important intermolecular interaction occurs at the active sit of molecule A, in which the C-terminal tail (residues 251-255) from molecule B inserts. The C-terminal tail interacts extensively with the active site of molecule A, and the last residue (Thr255) coordinated to the catalytic zinc as the fourth ligand, much like a product inhibitor would. The inhibitor-induced conformational change and the intermolecular C-terminal-zinc coordination are significant in understanding the structure-activity relationships of the enzyme.

The open conformation of a Pseudomonas lipase

BACKGROUND

. The interfacial activation of lipases results primarily from conformational changes in the enzymes which expose the active site and provide a hydrophobic surface for interaction with the lipid substrate. Comparison of the crystallization conditions used and the structures observed for a variety of lipases suggests that the enzyme conformation is dependent on solution conditions. Pseudomonas cepacia lipase (PCL) was crystallized in conditions from which the open, active conformation of the enzyme was expected. Its three-dimensional structure was determined independently in three different laboratories and was compared with the previously reported closed conformations of the closely related lipases from Pseudomonas glumae (PGL) and Chromobacterium viscosum (CVL). These structures provide new insights into the function of this commercially important family of lipases.

RESULTS

. The three independent structures of PCL superimpose with only small differences in the mainchain conformations. As expected, the observed conformation reveals a catalytic site exposed to the solvent. Superposition of PCL with the PGL and CVL structures indicates that the rearrangement from the closed to the open conformation involves three loops. The largest movement involves a 40 residue stretch, within which a helical segment moves to afford access to the catalytic site. A hydrophobic cleft that is presumed to be the lipid binding site is formed around the active site.

CONCLUSIONS

. The interfacial activation of Pseudomonas lipases involves conformational rearrangements of surface loops and appears to conform to models of activation deduced from the structures of fungal and mammalian lipases. Factors controlling the conformational rearrangement are not understood, but a comparison of crystallization conditions and observed conformation suggests that the conformation of the protein is determined by the solution conditions, perhaps by the dielectric constant.

Crystallographic investigations of subtilisin BPN' mutants engineered for studying thermal stability

Subtilisin BPN' (BPN) is an industrially important serine protease that has been extensively investigated in many laboratories. In an effort to improve the thermal stability of the enzyme, researchers at Procter & Gamble have used site-directed mutagenesis techniques to produce several variants of BPN in which residues at the surface of the enzyme have been substituted. We initiated crystallographic studies to determine the structural consequences of these amino acid substitutions. In the course of this work we obtained excellent crystals that correspond to the C2 crystal form of native BPN that has been previously reported. Since the structure reported in that work was of only medium resolution, high-resolution X-ray data for this crystal form of native BPN have been collected and the refinement of the structure has been extended using these new data. Isomorphous crystals of two variants, Q19E and Q271E, have also been grown, high-resolution X-ray data have been collected for these crystals, and the experimental results are described. The structures of the native enzyme and the Q271E variant have been refined and are described.

Crystallographic structure of human gamma-thrombin

In an effort to prepare crystals and determine the structure of alpha-thrombin complexed to a synthetic peptide inhibitor (MDL-28050) of the hirudin 54-65 COOH-terminal region, it was discovered that the crystals were not those of the complex but of gamma-thrombin. Gel electrophoresis studies revealed that autolytic degradation had occurred prior to crystallization. NH2-terminal sequence analysis of these autolytic fragments confirmed the gamma-thrombin product (cleavages at Arg75-Tyr76 and/or Arg77A-Asn78, and Lys149E-Gly150; chymotrypsinogen numbering) with a minor amount of another autolysis product, beta-thrombin (first two cleavages only). The final structure has an R-factor of 0.156 for 7.0-2.5-A data, and includes 186 water molecules. A comparison of gamma-thrombin with the thrombin structure in the alpha-thrombin-hirugen complex revealed that the two structures agreed well (r.m.s. delta = 0.39 A for main chain atoms). These structures possess uninhibited active sites where the disposition of the catalytic triad residues is nearly identical. The electron density in the vicinity of the gamma-thrombin cleavage regions is poor, and only becomes well-defined several residues prior to and after the actual cleavage sites. The extensive disorder evoked by beta-cleavage(s) in the Lys70-Glu80 loop region indicates that this part of the molecule is severely disrupted by autolysis and is the reason exosite functions are dramatically impaired in beta-and gamma-thrombin. Since autolysis did not lead to a major reorganization of the folded structure of alpha-thrombin, the likely structural features of the interaction of thrombin substrate with thrombin enzyme during beta-cleavage have been modeled by docking the exosite region of one molecule at the active site of another.

Structure of a pepsin/renin inhibitor complex reveals a novel crystal packing induced by minor chemical alterations in the inhibitor

The structure determination by molecular replacement methods of a monoclinic pepsin/renin inhibitor complex crystal, with two molecules in the asymmetric unit, is presented. The atomic model, consisting of two liganded pepsin molecules and 110 water molecules, has been refined to a final crystallographic R value of 0.139 for data between 8 and 2.9 A resolution. The structure reveals a previously undescribed pepsin dimer formed predominantly by polar interactions. Inhibitor binding induces global structural changes in the native enzyme similar, but not identical, to the ones observed in other chemically similar pepsin/renin inhibitor complexes crystallized in an orthorhombic form. A region of the polypeptide chain (residues 292-297) which was not visible in the orthorhombic crystal is well ordered in the presently described structure; possibly induced by crystal contacts. The crystal packing of native pepsin is compared with the two different crystal forms of the inhibited enzyme.

Peptide mimetics of the thrombin-bound structure of fibrinopeptide A

Recent work has suggested that the thrombin-bound conformation of fibrinopeptide A exhibits a strand-turn-strand motif, with a beta-turn centered at residues Glu-11 and Gly-12. Our molecular modeling analysis indicates that the published fibrinopeptide conformation cannot bind reasonably to thrombin but that reorientation of two residues by alignment with bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor provides a good fit within the deep thrombin cleft and satisfies all of the experimental nuclear Overhauser effect data. Based on this analysis, we have successfully designed and synthesized hybrid peptide mimetic substrates and inhibitors that mimic the proposed beta-turn structure. The results indicate that the turn conformation is an important aspect of thrombin specificity and that our turn mimetic design successfully mimics the thrombin-bound conformation of fibrinopeptide.

Refined structure of the hirudin-thrombin complex

The structure of a recombinant hirudin (variant 2, Lys47) human alpha-thrombin complex has been refined using restrained least-squares methods to a crystallographic R-factor of 0.173. The hirudin structure consists of an N-terminal domain folded into a globular unit and a long 17-peptide C-terminal in an extended chain conformation. The N-terminal domain binds at the active-site of thrombin where Ile1' to Tyr3' penetrates to the catalytic triad. The alpha-amino group of Ile1' of hirudin makes a hydrogen bond with OG of Ser195 of thrombin, the side-chains of Ile1' and Tyr3' occupy the apolar site, Thr2' is at the entrance to, but does not enter, the S1 specificity site and Ile1' to Tyr3' form a parallel beta-strand with Ser214 to Gly219. The latter interaction is antiparallel in all other serine proteinase-protein inhibitor complexes. The extended C-terminal segment of hirudin, which is abundant in acidic residues, makes many electrostatic interactions with the fibrinogen binding exosite while the last five residues are in a 3(10) helical turn residing in a hydrophobic patch on the thrombin surface. The precision of the complementarity displayed by these two molecules produces numerous interactions, which although independently generally weak, together are responsible for the high degree of affinity and specificity. Although hirudin-thrombin and D-Phe-Pro-Arg-chloromethyl ketone-thrombin differ in conformation in the autolysis loop (Lys145 to Gly150), this is most likely due to different crystal packing interactions and changes in circular dichroism between the two are probably due to the inherent flexibility of the loop. An RGD sequence, which is generally known to be involved in cell surface receptor interactions, occurs in thrombin and is associated with a long solvent channel filled with water molecules leading to the surface from the end of the S1 site. However, the RGD triplet does not appear to be able to interact in concert in a surface binding mode.

Inhibitor binding induces structural changes in porcine pepsin

The refined structures of two isomorphous pepsin/inhibitor complexes demonstrate that significant conformational changes take place upon ligand binding for a mammalian representative of the aspartic proteinase family. These differences can be attributed mostly to the concerted rigid body movements of two separate clusters of residues relative to a central core. One cluster in the amino domain comprises the flap, the adjacent beta strand (sheet IV) and helices, as well as the interconnecting loops. The other, larger cluster is in the carboxy end and corresponds approximately to the flexible subdomain described previously. Similar conformational changes are proposed to occur in renin and cathepsin D.

The structure of a complex of recombinant hirudin and human alpha-thrombin

The crystallographic structure of a recombinant hirudin-thrombin complex has been solved at 2.3 angstrom (A) resolution. Hirudin consists of an NH2-terminal globular domain and a long (39 A) COOH-terminal extended domain. Residues Ile1 to Tyr3 of hirudin form a parallel beta-strand with Ser214 to Glu217 of thrombin with the nitrogen atom of Ile1 making a hydrogen bond with Ser195 O gamma atom of the catalytic site, but the specificity pocket of thrombin is not involved in the interaction. The COOH-terminal segment makes numerous electrostatic interactions with an anion-binding exosite of thrombin, whereas the last five residues are in a helical loop that forms many hydrophobic contacts. In all, 27 of the 65 residues of hirudin have contacts less than 4.0 A with thrombin (10 ion pairs and 23 hydrogen bonds). Such abundant interactions may account for the high affinity and specificity of hirudin.

Revised 2.3 A structure of porcine pepsin: evidence for a flexible subdomain

A revised three-dimensional crystal structure of ethanol-inhibited porcine pepsin refined to an R-factor of 0.171 at 2.3 A resolution is presented and compared to the refined structures of the fungal aspartic proteinases: penicillopepsin, rhizopuspepsin, and endothiapepsin. Pepsin is composed of two nearly equal N and C domains related by an intra dyad. The overall polypeptide fold and active site structures are homologous for pepsin and the fungal enzymes. The weak inhibition of pepsin by ethanol can be explained by the presence of one or more ethanol molecules, in the vicinity of the active site carboxylates, which slightly alter the hydrogen-bonding network and which may compete with substrate binding in the active site. Structural superposition analysis showed that the N domains aligned better than the C-domains for pepsin and the fungal aspartic proteinases: 107-140 C alpha pairs aligned to 0.72-0.85 A rms for the N domains; 64-95 C alpha pairs aligned to 0.78-1.03 A rms for the C domains. The major structural difference between pepsin and the fungal enzymes concerns a newly described subdomain whose conformation varies markedly among these enzyme structures. The subdomain in pepsin comprises nearly 100 residues and is composed of two contiguous segments within the C domain (residues 192-212 and 223-299). the subdomain is connected, or "hinged," to a mixed beta-sheet that forms one of the structurally invariant, active site psi-loops. Relative subdomain displacements as large as a 21.0 degrees rotation and a 5.9 A translation were observed among the different enzymes. There is some suggestion in pepsin that the subdomain may be flexible and perhaps plays a structural role in mediating substrate binding, determining the substrate specificity, or in the activation of the zymogen.

Human D-Phe-Pro-Arg-CH2-alpha-thrombin crystallization and diffraction data

Human alpha-thrombin, inhibited with the high-affinity irreversible inhibitor D-Phe-Pro-Arg-chloromethylketone, has been crystallized from polyethylene glycol 8000 solutions buffered with 0.1 M-sodium phosphate. The crystals are: orthorhombic, a = 67.9(1) A, b = 87.9(1) A, c = 61.0(1) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with four molecules per unit cell. This gives a protein fraction of 58% consistent with the excellent X-ray diffraction quality of the crystals. A mercury heavy-atom derivative is being prepared from a thioester analogue of D-Phe-Pro-Arg-CH2-alpha-thrombin in anticipation of a complete crystallographic structure determination.

Crystallization and preliminary diffraction data of Escherichia coli ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase

ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase from Escherichia coli has been crystallized from polyethylene glycol 8000 solutions. The crystals are: orthorhombic, a = 155(2), b = 153(2), c = 174(2) A, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), four tetrameric molecules/unit cell. This gives a solvent fraction of about 75% consistent with the relatively poor diffraction quality of crystals (5.0-A resolution) and their sensitivity to x-ray exposure damage. Ways of circumventing the former and improving the latter are proposed.

The structure of prothrombin fragment 1 at 3.5-A resolution

The structure of prothrombin fragment 1 has been determined at 3.5-A resolution by multiple isomorphous replacement methods with four heavy atom derivatives. The final average figure of merit is 0.72. There is a large cylindrical solvent region with an average diameter of 35-40 A along the entire length of the c axis (85 A) centered at about x = y = 1/2. The connected density forming the wall of this channel is not of sufficient extent to account for the 156 residues of fragment 1 and the two accompanying carbohydrate chains totaling 5000 in molecular weight. Deglycosylated fragment 1 crystallizes isomorphously with fragment 1, and a difference map between the two revealed that the sugar chains are severely disordered and reside in the solvent channel. Although the disordered carbohydrate and the complexity of five disulfides in a 126-residue sequence have hampered the complete tracing of the peptide chain, two-thirds of the molecule has been accounted for in the form of an unusually oblate ellipsoid of about 15 X 30 X 35 A. The folding of the molecule has little secondary structure (one alpha-helix (7%), 20% beta-structure) in agreement with dichroism measurements and one of the points of carbohydrate attachment is suggested from the deglycosylated difference map.