title: Diffraction quality crystals of PRD1, a 66-MDa dsDNA virus with an internal membrane.
abstract: It has proved difficult to obtain well diffracting single crystals of macromolecular complexes rich in lipid. We report here the path that has led to crystals of the bacteriophage PRD1, a particle containing approximately 2,000 protein subunits from 18 different protein species, around 10 of which are integral membrane proteins associated with a host-derived lipid bilayer of some 12,500 lipid molecules. These crystals are capable of diffracting X-rays to Bragg spacings below 4A. It is hoped that some lessons learned from PRD1 will be applicable to other lipidic systems and that these crystals will allow, as a proof of principle, the determination of the structure of the virus in terms of a detailed atomic model.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Biosciences, Biocenter 2, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 56, Viikinkaari 5, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. jaana.bamford@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: Jaana K H
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Bamford
authors.forename: Joseph J B
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cockburn
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diprose
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grimes
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: Dennis H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bamford
mesh_terms: D025622:Bacteriophage PRD1 / Q000737:chemistry*; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000378:metabolism; D012542:Scattering, Radiation
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008055:Lipids