Structure of a putative trans-editing enzyme for prolyl-tRNA synthetase from Aeropyrum pernix K1 at 1.7 Å resolution

The crystal structure of APE2540, the putative trans-editing enzyme ProX from Aeropyrum pernix K1, was determined in a high-throughput manner. The crystal belongs to the monoclinic space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 47.4, b = 58.9, c = 53.6 angstrom, beta = 106.8(square). The structure was solved by the multiwavelength anomalous dispersion method at 1.7 angstrom and refined to an R factor of 16.8% (R-free = 20.5%). The crystal structure includes two protein molecules in the asymmetric unit. Each monomer consists of eight beta-strands and seven alpha-helices. A structure-homology search revealed similarity between the trans-editing enzyme YbaK (or cysteinyl-tRNA Pro deacylase) from Haemophilus influenzae (HI1434; 22% sequence identity) and putative ProX proteins from Caulobacter crescentus (16%) and Agrobacterium tumefaciens (21%).