Biological Crystallography

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 953-961  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910026272 ]

The structure of the genomic Bacillus subtilis dUTPase: novel features in the Phe-lid

J. García-Nafría, L. Burchell, M. Takezawa, N. J. Rzechorzek, M. J. Fogg and K. S. Wilson

Synopsis: The structures of the B. subtilis genomic dUTPase and of its complex with the substrate analogue dUpNHpp and calcium are reported, both at 1.85 Å resolution. The Phe-lid, which folds over the ligand, lies in a novel position in the structure.

PDB references: 2xcd and 2xce

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 962-969  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910027101 ]

Atomic resolution studies of haloalkane dehalogenases DhaA04, DhaA14 and DhaA15 with engineered access tunnels

A. Stsiapanava, J. Dohnalek, J. A. Gavira, M. Kuty, T. Koudelakova, J. Damborsky and I. Kuta Smatanova

Synopsis: The structures of three DhaA mutants at atomic resolution are described in detail and compared in order to explore the effect of mutations on the enzymatic activity of modified proteins from a structural perspective.

PDB references: 3fbw, 3g9x and 3fwh

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 970-978  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910027927 ]

Percentile-based spread: a more accurate way to compare crystallographic models

E. Pozharski

Synopsis: A new percentile-based measure of structural differences is proposed and is shown to have advantages over traditional root-mean-square distance.

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 979-987  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910028593 ]

Structures of the nucleotide-binding domain of the human ABCB6 transporter and its complexes with nucleotides

M. Haffke, A. Menzel, Y. Carius, D. Jahn and D. W. Heinz

Synopsis: The crystal structures of the nucleotide-binding domain of human ABCB6 in the apo form and in complexes with ADP, with ATP and with ADP and Mg²⁺ were determined at 2 Å resolution.

PDB references: 3nh6, 3nhb, 3nha and 3nh9

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 988-1000  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910029938 ]

Inclusion of weak high-resolution X-ray data for improvement of a group II intron structure

J. Wang

Synopsis: New insights into group II intron self-splicing mechanisms from an improved crystal structure of a group II intron complex with a product upon inclusion of weak high-resolution X-ray in structure determination.

PDB reference: 3g78

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1001-1011  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910029690 ]

Structural study and thermodynamic characterization of inhibitor binding to lumazine synthase from Bacillus anthracis

E. Morgunova, B. Illarionov, S. Saller, A. Popov, T. Sambaiah, A. Bacher, M. Cushman, M. Fischer and R. Ladenstein

Synopsis: Crystallographic studies of lumazine synthase, the penultimate enzyme of the riboflavin-biosynthetic pathway in B. anthracis, provide a structural framework for the design of antibiotic inhibitors, together with calorimetric and kinetic investigations of inhibitor binding.

PDB references: 1vsx, 1vsw and 3jv8

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1012-1023  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910030234 ]

Performance of phased rotation, conformation and translation function: accurate protein model building with tripeptidic and tetrapeptidic fragments

F. Pavelcík and J. Václavík

Synopsis: Main-chain tripeptidic and tetrapeptidic molecular fragments are positioned in the electron density by a phased rotation, conformation and translation function at various resolutions. Accurate and nearly complete protein models can be built semi-automatically using the positioned fragments.

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1024-1031  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910031045 ]

A smooth and differentiable bulk-solvent model for macromolecular diffraction

T. D. Fenn, M. J. Schnieders and A. T. Brunger

Synopsis: A new method for modeling the bulk solvent in macromolecular diffraction data based on Babinet's principle is presented. The proposed models offer the advantage of differentiability with respect to atomic coordinates.

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1032-1035  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910028192 ]

High-speed crystal detection and characterization using a fast-readout detector

J. Aishima, R. L. Owen, D. Axford, E. Shepherd, G. Winter, K. Levik, P. Gibbons, A. Ashton and G. Evans

Synopsis: A grid-scan tool that enables rapid characterization of large sample volumes using a microfocused X-ray beam and a fast-readout detector is reported.

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1036-1040  [ doi:10.1107/S0907444910030015 ]

Molecular recognition between Escherichia coli enolase and ribonuclease E

S. Nurmohamed, A. R. McKay, C. V. Robinson and B. F. Luisi

Synopsis: The glycolytic enzyme enolase associates with the endoribonuclease RNase E in Escherichia coli and many other bacterial species. The crystal structure of the complex reveals the basis for the molecular recognition and provides clues as to the possible function of the interaction.

PDB reference: 3h8a

Online 13 August 2010

 

Acta Cryst. (2010). D66, 1041-1042  [ doi:10.1107/S090744491002799X ]

Is too `creative' language acceptable in crystallography?

A. Wlodawer, J. Lubkowski, W. Minor and M. Jaskolski

Synopsis: A brief comment is made on the need to use carefully selected, novel terms in crystallographic publications, especially publications addressing non-specialists.

Online 13 August 2010