Protein preparation and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of a putative glucosamine 6-phosphate deaminase from Streptococcus mutants

The SMU.636 protein from Streptococcus mutans is a putative glucosamine 6-­phosphate deaminase with 233 residues. The smu.636 gene was PCR-amplified from S. mutans genomic DNA and cloned into the expression vector pET-28a(+). The resultant His-tagged fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity in two steps. Crystals of the fusion protein were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. The crystals diffracted to 2.4 Å resolution and belong to space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 53.83, b = 82.13, c = 134.70 Å.