Structural basis for the broad specificity of a new family of amino-acid racemases

This work reports the crystal structure of BsrV, the broad spectrum racemase of Vibrio cholerae (1.15 Å resolution); unveils signature amino acids associated to its multispecificity and uses this signature sequence to identify a large family of BsrV-like multi-specific racemases in bacteria. Structural analyses of an additional Bsr confirmed the distinguishing features are conserved among Bsr-family members.