Crystallization and purification of the enzyme anthranilate phosphoribosyl transferase

Anthranilate phosphoribosyl transferase from the bacterium Hafnia alvei has been crystallized. This enzyme is one of a small number that constitute the biosynthetic pathway for tryptophan. Large cubic crystals were grown at 4 °C by dialyzing away the glycerol from a protein solution that included ammonium sulfate, polyethylene glycol and glycerol. The crystals were much more temperature stable and resistant to X-ray deterioration than a previous, similar crystal form that had included glycerol. The crystals belong to the space group I432, a = b = c = 189 Å (1 Å = 0.1 nm). The ratio of the monomer molecular weight, 37,000, to the volume of the unit cell suggests that there is one homodimer per asymmetric unit. The crystals diffracted to a resolution of 3.0 Å at the Stanford Synchotron Radiation Laboratory X-ray source.