Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic study of a methyltransferase involved in 2-methylisoborneol biosynthesis in Streptomyces lasaliensis

The biosynthetic pathway of the off-flavour terpenoid alcohol 2-methyliso­borneol (2-MIB) requires geranyl pyrophosphate methyltransferase (GPPMT) to methylate GPP before the cyclization reaction. GPPMT is the first example of an S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferase that acts on general intermediates such as geranyl pyrophosphate and farnesyl pyrophosphate in isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways. In this study, recombinant GPPMT was overproduced, purified and crystallized in the absence and presence of cofactor, cofactor analogue and substrate. Well diffracting crystals of apo GPPMT containing one molecule in the asymmetric unit were obtained and the structure of this form was solved by the molecular-replacement method. Two crystal forms of the tertiary complex with GPP and sinefungin were also obtained. Structure analysis of these crystals is currently under way in order to understand the enzyme reaction mechanism.