Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the Cmr2–Cmr3 subcomplex in the CRISPR–Cas RNA-silencing effector complex

The Cmr2–Cmr3 subcomplex from P. furiosus was co-crystallized with 3′-AMP. X-ray diffraction data for the crystals were collected to 2.6 Å resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. Clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) loci, found in prokaryotes, are transcribed to produce CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs). The Cmr proteins (Cmr1–6) and crRNA form a ribonucleoprotein complex that degrades target RNAs derived from invading genetic elements. Cmr2dHD, a Cmr2 variant lacking the N-terminal putative HD nuclease domain, and Cmr3 were co-expressed in Escherichia coli cells and co-purified as a complex. The Cmr2dHD–Cmr3 complex was co-crystallized with 3′-AMP by the vapour-diffusion method. The crystals diffracted to 2.6 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation at the Photon Factory. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group I222, with unit-cell parameters a = 103.9, b = 136.7, c = 192.0 Å. The asymmetric unit of the crystals is expected to contain one Cmr2dHD–Cmr3 complex with a Matthews coefficient of 3.0 ų Da⁻¹ and a solvent content of 59%