Crystallization and preliminary X-ray characterization of the glpX-encoded class II fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase; EC 3.1.3.11), which is a key enzyme in gluconeogenesis, catalyzes the hydrolysis of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to form fructose 6-phosphate and orthophosphate. The present investigation reports the crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of the glpX-encoded class II FBPase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The recombinant protein, which was cloned using an Escherichia coli expression system, was purified and crystallized using the hanging-drop vapor-diffusion method. The crystals diffracted to a resolution of 2.7 Å and belonged to the hexagonal space group P6₁22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 131.3, c = 143.2 Å. The structure has been solved by molecular replacement and is currently undergoing refinement.