Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of two dimeric hyperthermostable thioredoxins isolated from Sulfolobus solfataricus.

The thioredoxin system of the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus involves a number of different proteins: two thioredoxin reductases (SsTrxRB2 and SsTrxRB3), two distinct thioredoxins (SsTrxA1 and SsTrxA2) and a disulfide oxidoreductase (SsPDO). Here, the crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analyses of SsTrxA1 and SsTrxA2, two dimeric proteins endowed with extraordinary thermal stability, are reported. In addition to the functional thioredoxin domain, both SsTrxA1 and SsTrxA2 present an extra N-terminal fragment of approximately 30 residues. Although crystallization trials have been conducted on both forms of the proteins, crystals that were suitable for X-ray crystallographic analyses have only been obtained for their truncated variants. The crystals of SsTrxA2 belonged to space group P2, with unit-cell parameters a = 28.27, b = 27.88, c = 62.06 A, beta = 92.34 degrees , and diffracted to 1.83 A resolution, whereas the crystals of SsTrxA1 belonged to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 51.76, b = 75.09, c = 55.35 A, beta = 112.64 degrees , and diffracted to 1.90 A resolution. The structures of the two proteins have been solved by molecular replacement.