Characterization of crystals of the Hjc resolvase from Archaeoglobus fulgidus grown in gel by counter-diffusion

Holliday junction-resolving enzymes are ubiquitous proteins that play a key role in DNA repair and reorganization by homologous recombination. The Holliday junction-cutting enzyme (Hjc) from the archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus is a member of this group. The first Hjc crystals were obtained by conventional sparse-matrix screening. They exhibited an unusually elongated unit cell and their X-ray characterization required special care to avoid spot overlaps along the c* axis. The use of an arc appended to the goniometric head allowed proper orientatation of plate-like crystals grown in agarose gel by counter-diffusion. Thus, complete diffraction data were collected at 2.7 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation. They belong to space group P3₁21 or P3₂21, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 37.4, c = 271.8 Å.