title: Glutamyl-tRNA synthetase from Thermus thermophilus HB8. Molecular cloning of the gltX gene and crystallization of the overproduced protein.
abstract: The gene for the Glu-tRNA synthetase from an extreme thermophile, Thermus thermophilus HB8, was isolated using a synthetic oligonucleotide probe coding for the N-terminal amino acid sequence of Glu-tRNA synthetase. Nucleotide-sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame coding for a protein composed of 468 amino acid residues (Mr 53,901). Codon usage in the T. thermophilus Glu-tRNA synthetase gene was in fact similar to the characteristic usages in the genes for proteins from bacteria of genus Thermus: the G + C content in the third position of the codons was as high as 94%. In contrast, the amino acid sequence of T. thermophilus Glu-tRNA synthetase showed high similarity with bacterial Glu-tRNA synthetases (35-45% identity); the sequences of the binding sites for ATP and for the 3' terminus of tRNA(Glu) are highly conserved. The Glu-tRNA synthetase gene was efficiently expressed in Escherichia coli under the control of the tac promoter. The recombinant T. thermophilus Glu-tRNA synthetase was extremely thermostable and was purified to homogeneity by heat treatment and three-step column chromatography. Single crystals of T. thermophilus Glu-tRNA synthetase were obtained from poly(ethylene glycol) 6000 solution by a vapor-diffusion technique. The crystals diffract X-rays beyond 0.35 nm. The crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters of a = 8.64 nm, b = 8.86 nm and c = 8.49 nm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nureki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hara-Yokoyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kohno
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuzawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003062:Codon; D003460:Crystallization; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology; D015870:Gene Expression; D005975:Glutamate-tRNA Ligase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000201:enzymology*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D005975:Glutamate-tRNA Ligase