Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of ThiM from Staphylococcus aureus

ThiM [5-(hydroxyethyl)-4-methylthiazole kinase; EC 2.7.1.50] from Staphylococcus aureus is an essential enzyme of thiamine or vitamin B-1 metabolism and has been crystallized by the vapour-diffusion method. The crystals belonged to the primitive space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 62.06, b = 62.40, c = 107.82 A, alpha = 92.25, beta = 91.37, gamma = 101.48 degrees and six protomers in the unit cell, corresponding to a packing parameter V (M) of 2.3 A3 Da-1. Diffraction data were collected to 2.1 A resolution using synchrotron radiation. The phase problem was solved by molecular replacement.