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. 1977 Mar;74(3):1037–1041. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.3.1037

Structure of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase: Form III crystals

Timothy S Baker 1,2,*, Se Won Suh 1,2, David Eisenberg 1,2,
PMCID: PMC430579  PMID: 16592389

Abstract

A new crystal form (III) of tobacco leaf ribulosebisphosphate carboxylase [3-phospho-D-glycerate carboxy-lyase (dimerizing), EC 4.1.1.39] has been grown by dialysis procedures, and is suitable for structural studies at near atomic resolution. The crystals exhibit birefringence, grow as pseudo-regular rhombic dodecahedrons, and belong to the tetragonal space group P42212 with a = b = 149 Å, c = 138 Å, and V = 3.04 × 106 A3. Each unit cell contains two molecules, with two large and two small subunits per asymmetric unit. At low resolution (>10 Å) the crystal structure is body centered belonging to space group 1422 with one large/small pair in the asymmetric unit. Thus, at low resolution the molecular symmetry is D4, the highest possible symmetry for an oligomer of stoichiometry large8small8. Form III crystals may be identical to crystalline inclusions found in chloroplasts.

Keywords: protein structure, x-ray diffraction, molecular symmetry, chloroplast crystals

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Selected References

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