Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a membrane-bound nitritereductase from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ATCC 27774

Nitrite reductase from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfu ricans ATCC 27774 is a multihaem (type c) membrane-bound enzyme that cataly zes the dissimilatory conversion of nitrite to ammonia. Crystals of the oxi dized form of this enzyme were obtained using PEG and CaCl2 as precipitants in the presence of 3-(decylmethylammonium)propane-1-sulfonate and belong t o the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), With unit-cell parameters a = 78.94, b = 1 04.59, c = 143.18 Angstrom. A complete data set to 2.30 Angstrom resolution was collected using synchrotron radiation at the ESRF. However, the crysta ls may diffract to beyond 1.7 Angstrom and high-resolution data will be col lected in the near future.