Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of the L,D-transpeptidase LdtMt1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is capable of adapting to prolonged periods of dormancy, a state which is resistant to killing by antimycobacterial agents. The L,D-transpeptidation reaction catalysed by the L,D-transpeptidase LdtMt1 is likely to play an essential role in the adaptation of M. tuberculosis to its dormant state. LdtMt1 has been successfully crystallized using vapour-diffusion methods. The crystals of this protein belonged to space group P6522, with unit-cell parameters a = 57.25, b = 57.25, c = 257.96 angstrom, = 90, = 90, = 120 degrees. Diffraction data have also been collected from a selenomethionine derivative to 2.9 angstrom resolution. Model building using the phases derived from the multiwavelength anomalous dispersion experiment is in progress