Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of β-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydratase (FabZ) from Plasmodium falciparum

The malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum synthesizes fatty acids by the type II mechanism. In this cycle, the dehydration of the β-­hydroxyacyl acyl carrier protein is catalyzed by FabZ. Purified FabZ has been crystallized using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion and microbatch techniques. The crystals are orthorhombic, with space group I222 or I2₁2₁2₁ and unit-cell parameters a = 71.78, b = 81.99, c = 97.49 Å. A complete data set to a resolution of 2.5 Å has been collected under cryoconditions (100 K) using a MAR imaging-plate detector system mounted on a rotating-anode X-ray generator.