Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a chitinase from the fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis

Chitinase is necessary for fungal growth and cell division and, therefore, is an ideal target for the design of inhibitors which may act as antifungal agents. A chitinase from the fungal pathogen Coccidioides immitis has been expressed as a fusion protein with gluathione-S-transferase (GST), which a ids in purification. After cleavage from GST, chitinase was crystallized fr om 30% PEG 4000 in 0.1 M sodium acetate pH 4.6. The crystals have a tetrago nal crystal lattice and belong to space group P4(1)2(1)2 or P4(3)2(1)2 and diffract to 2.2 Angstrom resolution. The unit-cell parameters are a = b = 9 1.2, c = 95.4 Angstrom; there is only one chitinase molecule in the asymmet ric unit.