Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of the Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome xylanase Z feruloyl esterase domain

Feruloyl esterases cleave ferulic acid from arabinoxylan and pectin. Ferulo yl groups are believed to crosslink the polysaccharide chain within the pol ymer and to link hemicellulose to lignin, which may play a role in controll ing the growth of plants. The Clostridium thermocellum cellulosome xylanase Z feruloyl esterase was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crysta llized. The crystals diffract to 2.4 Angstrom resolution and belong to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 43.14 , b = 63.77, c = 79.57 Angstrom. Assuming one molecule per asymmetric unit, the Matthews coefficient is calculated to be 1.87 Angstrom(3) Da(-1), whic h corresponds to a solvent content of 34%.