Abstract
Thiomicrospira crunogena XCL-2 is a novel sulfur-oxidizing chemolithoautotroph that plays a significant role in the sustainability of deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities. This recently discovered gammaproteobacterium encodes and expresses four carbonic anhydrases (CAs) from three evolutionarily and structurally distinct CA families: an α-CA, two β-CAs and a γ-CA. In order to characterize and elucidate the physiological roles of these CAs, X-ray crystallographic structural studies have been initiated on the α-CA. The α-CA crystallized in space group C2. The crystals diffracted to a maximum resolution of 2.6 Å, with unit-cell parameters a = 127.1, b = 102.2, c = 105.0 Å, β = 127.3°, and a calculated Matthews coefficient of 2.04 Å(3) Da(-1) with four identical protein molecules in the crystallographic asymmetric unit. A preliminary solution was determined by molecular replacement with the PHENIX AutoMR wizard, which had an initial TFZ score of 17.9. Refinement of the structure is currently in progress.