A structural genomics pilot project based on gene targets selected from Escherichia coli

A pilot project based on gene targets selected from the genome of E. coli h as been initiated with 38 genes for initial cloning. Of these, 18 proteins have been purified to date and some crystals were obtained for twelve of th em. Of these, four proteins yielded crystals diffracting to a sufficiently high resolution to warrant structural investigation. We have determined 3-D structures of three of these proteins using Se-Met labeling and MAD method s, while the structure of the fourth one was simultaneously determined by a nother group. To manage the parallel work on many proteins by several resea rchers it became necessary to create a searchable database containing the p ertinent information about every stage of the work. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scien ce B.V. All rights reserved.