Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the receiver domain of Staphylococcus aureus LytR protein

The response-regulatory protein LytR belongs to a family of transcription factors involved in the regulation of important virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria. The protein consists of a receiver domain and an effector domain, which play an important role in controlled cell death and lysis. The LytR receiver domain (LytR^N) has been overexpressed, purified and crystallized using the sitting-drop and hanging-drop vapour-diffusion methods. The crystals grew as needles, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 84.82, c = 157.3 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°. LytR^N crystallized in space group P6₁22 and the crystals diffracted to a maximum resolution of 2.34 Å. Based on the Matthews coefficient (V_M = 5.44 ų Da⁻¹), one molecule is estimated to be present in the asymmetric unit.