Crystallization and preliminary X‐ray crystallographic studies of UDP‐N‐acetylenolpyruvylglucosamine reductase

Abstract
The overexpression and purification of the second enzyme in Escherichia coli peptidoglycan biosynthesis, UDP‐N‐acetylenolpyruvylglucosamine reductase (MurB), provided sufficient protein to undertake crystallization and X‐ray crystallographic studies of the enzyme. MurB crystallizes in 14–20% PEG 8000, 100 mM sodium cacodylate, pH 8.0, and 200 mM calcium acetate in the presence of its substrate UDP‐N‐acetylglucosamine enolpyruvate. Crystals of MurB belong to the tetragonal space group P41212 with a = b = 49.6 Å, c = 263.2 Å, and α = β = γ = 90° at –160 °C and diffract to at least 2.5 Å. Screening for heavy atom derivatives has yielded a single site that is reactive with both methylmercury nitrate and Thimerosal.