Cloning, expression and preliminary X-ray analysis of the dihydroorotase from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Aquifex aeolicus.

Dihydroorotase (DHOase) catalyzes the formation of dihydroorotate in the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. The gene encoding the type I DHOase from the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus has been cloned in Escherichia coli with a polyhistidine affinity tag appended to the amino-terminal end and sequenced. The recombinant protein was expressed at high levels and could be purified readily in a single step by Ni(2+) affinity chromatography. Both native and selenomethionine-labeled proteins were crystallized using the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion technique. Screens of the purified protein identified several conditions that yielded crystals; however, the best crystals were obtained using 1 M Li(2)SO(4), 10 mM NiCl(2), 100 mM Tris acetate pH 8.5 as the precipitant. Well formed diamond-shaped crystals appeared within 1 d and continued to grow over several weeks to about 0.5 mm in the largest dimension. The crystals diffract to 1.7 A and belong to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 119.8, b = 88.0, c = 55.2 A, beta = 99.0 degrees and a mosaic spread of 0.6 degrees. There is one DHOase monomer in the asymmetric unit.