journal menu
research papers
X-ray structures of the wild-type reaction centre from Rhodobacter sphaeroides have been determined to a resolution of 1.87 Å in the neutral (dark) state and to 2.06 Å in the charge-separated (light-excited) state. Whereas the overall protein structures of both states are rather similar, the domain around the secondary quinone shows significant shifts. The quinone molecule itself is observed at two different positions. In the neutral state, 55% of the quinone is located distally and 45% proximally to the cytoplasmic side. After excitation by light, however, at least 90% of the quinone is found at the proximal position. Results presented by Stowell et al. (1997) are confirmed, but the quality of crystallographic data has been improved. We compare the data with the structure of the mutant RC L209 PY that keeps the QB molecule in the proximal position even in the charge-neutral state.
research papers
Diisopropylfluorophosphatases (DFP-ases) are capable of detoxifying chemical warfare agents like diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) by hydrolysis. The protein reported here was recombinantely expressed in E. coli. The X-ray cystal structure of this enzyme has been refined to a resolution of 0.85 Å and a crystallographic R value of 9.4%. Reversible flash-cooling improved both, mosaicity and resolution of the crystals considerably. The overall structure of this protein represents a six-bladed β-propeller with two calcium ions bound in a central water filled tunnel. 496 water, 2 glycerol, 2 MES-buffer molecules, and 18 PEG fragments of different lengths could be refined in the solvent region. The 208 most reliable residues, without disorder or reduced occupancy in their side-chains, were finally refined without restraints. A subsequent full-matrix refinement cycle for the positional parameters yielded estimated standard deviations (esds) by matrix inversion. The herewith calculated bond lenghts and bond-esds were used to obtain averaged bond lengths, which have been compared to the restraints used in preceding refinement cycles.
