Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of alpha-amylase from the antarctic psychrophile Alteromonas haloplanctis A23.

• Main Authors: Aghajari, N., Feller, G., Gerday, C., Haser, R.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 1996
• Subjects: Research Article; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2143274; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897615

A cold-active alpha-amylase was purified from culture supernatants of the antarctic psychrophile Alteromonas haloplanctis A23 grown at 4 degrees C. In order to contribute to the understanding of the molecular basis of cold adaptations, crystallographic studies of this cold-adapted enzyme have been initiated because a three-dimensional structure of a mesophilic counterpart, pig pancreatic alpha-amylase, already exists. alpha-Amylase from A. haloplanctis, which shares 53% sequence identity with pig pancreatic alpha-amylase, has been crystallized and data to 1.85 A have been collected. The space group is found to be C222(1) with a = 71.40 A, b = 138.88 A, and c = 115.66 A. Until now, a three-dimensional structure of a psychrophilic enzyme is lacking.