Streptococcus pneumonia YlxR at 1.35 A shows a putative new fold.
Osipiuk, J., Gornicki, P., Maj, L., Dementieva, I., Laskowski, R., Joachimiak, A.(2001) Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr 57: 1747-1751
- PubMed: 11679764 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1107/s0907444901014019
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
1G2R - PubMed Abstract: 
The structure of the YlxR protein of unknown function from Streptococcus pneumonia was determined to 1.35 A. YlxR is expressed from the nusA/infB operon in bacteria and belongs to a small protein family (COG2740) that shares a conserved sequence motif GRGA(Y/W). The family shows no significant amino-acid sequence similarity with other proteins. Three-wavelength diffraction MAD data were collected to 1.7 A from orthorhombic crystals using synchrotron radiation and the structure was determined using a semi-automated approach. The YlxR structure resembles a two-layer alpha/beta sandwich with the overall shape of a cylinder and shows no structural homology to proteins of known structure. Structural analysis revealed that the YlxR structure represents a new protein fold that belongs to the alpha-beta plait superfamily. The distribution of the electrostatic surface potential shows a large positively charged patch on one side of the protein, a feature often found in nucleic acid-binding proteins. Three sulfate ions bind to this positively charged surface. Analysis of potential binding sites uncovered several substantial clefts, with the largest spanning 3/4 of the protein. A similar distribution of binding sites and a large sharply bent cleft are observed in RNA-binding proteins that are unrelated in sequence and structure. It is proposed that YlxR is an RNA-binding protein.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Argonne National Laboratory, Structural Biology Center, Biosciences Division, IL 60439, USA.