Three-dimensional structure of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase from E. coli at 2.71 Å resolution

Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase from Escherichia coli was cloned, purified, and crystallized. Single crystals of the enzyme were grown under microgravity. The X-ray diffraction data set was collected at the Spring-8 synchrotron facility and used to determine the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme by the molecular-replacement method at 2.71 Å resolution. The active and regulatory sites in the molecule of E. coli phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate synthetase were revealed by comparison with the homologous protein from Bacillus subtilis , the structure of which was determined in a complex with functional ligands. The conformations of polypeptide-chain fragments surrounding and composing the active and regulatory sites were shown to be identical in both proteins.