Isolation, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of chitinase from tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seeds.

A protein with chitinase activity has been isolated and purified from tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seeds. N-terminal amino-acid sequence analysis of this protein confirmed it to be an approximately 34 kDa endochitinase which belongs to the acidic class III chitinase family. The protein was crystallized by the vapour-diffusion method using PEG 4000. The crystals belonged to the tetragonal space group P4(1), with two molecules per asymmetric unit. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.6 A.