Crystal structure of the site-specific recombinase, XerD.
Subramanya, H.S., Arciszewska, L.K., Baker, R.A., Bird, L.E., Sherratt, D.J., Wigley, D.B.(1997) EMBO J 16: 5178-5187
- PubMed: 9311978 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/emboj/16.17.5178
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1A0P - PubMed Abstract: 
The structure of the site-specific recombinase, XerD, that functions in circular chromosome separation, has been solved at 2.5 A resolution and reveals that the protein comprises two domains. The C-terminal domain contains two conserved sequence motifs that are located in similar positions in the structures of XerD, lambda and HP1 integrases. However, the extreme C-terminal regions of the three proteins, containing the active site tyrosine, are very different. In XerD, the arrangement of active site residues supports a cis cleavage mechanism. Biochemical evidence for DNA bending is encompassed in a model that accommodates extensive biochemical and genetic data, and in which the DNA is wrapped around an alpha-helix in a manner similar to that observed for CAP complexed with DNA.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.