Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of FtsA from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

FtsA from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was cloned, overexpressed and purified. The protein was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion technique. A cocrystal with β-γ-imidoadenosine 5′-phosphate (AMPPNP; a nonhydrolysable ATP analogue) was grown using PEG 3350 as a precipitant at 293 K. X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.3 Å at 100 K. The crystal belonged to the monoclinic space group P2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 75.31, b = 102.78, c = 105.90 Å, β = 96.54°. The calculated Matthews coefficient suggested that the asymmetric unit contained three or four monomers.