Crystallization of the archaeal transcription termination factor NusA: a significant decrease in twinning under microgravity conditions

The transcription termination factor NusA from Aeropyrum pernix was crystallized using a counter-diffusion technique in both terrestrial and microgravity environments. Crystallization under microgravity conditions significantly reduced the twinning content (1.0%) compared with terrestrially grown crystals (18.3%) and improved the maximum resolution from 3.0 to 2.29 Å, with similar unit-cell parameters. Based on a comparison of the crystal parameters, the effect of microgravity on protein crystallization is discussed.