Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction anaylsis of the LOV1 domains of phototropin 1 and 2 from Arabidopsis thaliana

Phototropin is a blue-light receptor protein in plants that is responsible for phototropic responses, stomata opening and photo-induced relocation of chloroplasts. Higher plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana have two isoforms of phototropin: phototropin 1 and phototropin 2. Both isoforms comprise a tandem pair of blue-light-absorbing light–oxygen–voltage domains named LOV1 and LOV2 in the N-terminal half and a serine/threonine kinase domain in the C-­terminal half. The LOV1 domain is thought to function as a dimerization site. In the present study, recombinant LOV1 domains of A. thaliana phototropin 1 and phototropin 2 were crystallized. The crystal of the LOV1 domain of phototropin 1 belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 61.2, b = 64.9, c = 70.8 Å, and diffracted X-rays to a resolution of 2.1 Å. The crystal of the LOV1 domain of phototropin 2 belonged to space group P2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 32.5, b = 66.5, c = 56.7 Å, β = 92.4°, and diffracted X-rays to beyond 2.0 Å resolution. In both crystals, two LOV1 domains occupied the crystallographic asymmetric unit.