Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of tRNA (m⁷G46) methyltransferase fromEscherichia coli

Transfer RNA (tRNA) (m(7)G46) methyltransferase (TrmB) belongs to the Rossmann-fold methyltransferase (RFM) family and uses S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) as the methyl-group donor to catalyze the formation of N(7)-methylguanosine (m(7)G) at position 46 in the variable loop of tRNAs. After attempts to crystallize full-length Escherichia coli TrmB (EcTrmB) failed, a truncated protein lacking the first 32 residues of the N-terminus but with an additional His(6) tag at the C-terminus was crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using polyethylene glycol 3350 (PEG 3350) as precipitant at 283 K. An X-ray diffraction data set was collected using a single flash-cooled crystal that belonged to space group P2(1).