Fig. 1.

A cartoon representation of the crystal structures of the three thermophilic esterase enzymes described above. The helices are shown as red cylinders and the sheets as blue arrows. Other selected atoms are shown as ball and stick representation. a The Archaeoglobus archaeal esterase, AF-Est2, showing the larger core and smaller cap domains, with the bound CoA molecule and catalytic residues shown as a stick model PDB code 5FRD. b The T. terrifontis bacterial esterase, TtEst, showing D-malate which maps the alcohol-binding pocket of the active site PDB code 4UHE. c The second bacterial esterase from T. terrifontis, TtEst, showing the open active site and minimal cap domain. The substrate butyrate is bound shown in ball and stick representation which maps the carboxyl-binding pocket of the active site PDB code 5AOB. Images were generated using CCP4 MG [48]