Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of galactokinase from Pyrococcus horikoshii.

Galactokinase (EC 2.7.1.6) catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of alpha-D-galactose to alpha-D-galactose-1-phosphate, in an additional metabolic branch of glycolysis. The apo-form crystal structure of the enzyme has not yet been elucidated. Crystals of galactokinase from Pyrococcus horikoshii were prepared in both the apo form and as a ternary complex with alpha-D-galactose and an ATP analogue. Diffraction data sets were collected to 1.24 A resolution for the apo form and to 1.7 A for the ternary complex form using synchrotron radiation. The apo-form crystals belong to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 108.08, b = 38.91, c = 81.57 A, beta = 109.8 degrees. The ternary complex form was isomorphous with the apo form, except for the length of the a axis. The galactokinase activity of the enzyme was confirmed and the kinetic parameters at 323 K were determined.