Cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the small subunit of isopropylmalate isomerase (Rv2987c) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Two C-terminally truncated variants of the small subunit of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isopropylmalate isomerase (Rv2987c; LeuD), LeuD_1-156 and LeuD_1-168, have been cloned, heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli, purified using standard chromatographic techniques and crystallized. The crystals of LeuD_1-156 belonged to the hexagonal system (space group P6₁22 or P6₅22) with up to four subunits in the asymmetric unit, whereas the crystals of LeuD_1-168 belonged to the monoclinic system (space group P2₁) with two subunits in the asymmetric unit. Both crystals diffracted X-rays to beyond 2.0 Å resolution and were suitable for further crystallographic analysis.