Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Bifidobacterium adolescentis xylose isomerase

The xylose isomerase enzyme from B. adolescentis was expressed in E. coli, purified and crystallized. A native X-ray diffraction data set was collected to 1.7 Å resolution. Xylose isomerase (EC 5.3.1.5) is a key enzyme in xylose metabolism which is industrially important for the transformation of glucose and xylose into fructose and xylulose, respectively. The Bifidobacterium adolescentis xylA gene (NC-008618.1) encoding xylose isomerase (XI) was cloned and the enzyme was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Purified recombinant XI was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method with polyethylene glycol 3350 as the precipitating agent. A complete native data set was collected to 1.7 Å resolution using a synchrotron-radiation source. The crystals belonged to the orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2, with unit-cell parameters a = 88.78, b = 123.98, c = 78.63 Å