Purification, crystallization and preliminary characterization of a putative LmbE-like deacetylase from Bacillus cereus.

The Bacillus cereus BC1534 protein, a putative deacetylase from the LmbE family, has been purified to homogeneity and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Crystals of the 26 kDa protein grown from MPD and acetate buffer belong to space group R32, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 76.7, c = 410.5 A (in the hexagonal setting). A complete native data set was collected to a resolution of 2.5 A from a single cryoprotected crystal using synchrotron radiation. As BC1534 shows significant sequence homology with an LmbE-like protein of known structure from Thermus thermophilus, molecular replacement will be used for crystal structure determination.