title: Heavy metal-mediated crystallization of Escherichia coli phytase and analysis of bridging interactions.
abstract: Escherichia coli phytase is a phosphatase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of phytic acid into inorganic phosphate and myo-inositol. Two crystal forms of this enzyme were obtained in the presence of heavy metals. Crystal forms I and II were obtained with the heavy atoms CdCl(2) and HgCl(2) and diffracted to 1.5 A and 2.25 A resolution, respectively. Hg(2+) and Cd(2+) both acted as molecular bridge(s), linking and stabilizing E. coli phytase in the unit cell, and played a crucial role in the crystallization of phytase by bridging neighbouring symmetry related molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Zongchao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D010832:6-Phytase / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D002104:Cadmium / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology*; D008628:Mercury / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium; D010832:6-Phytase; D008628:Mercury