Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary diffraction studies of the tRNA pseudouridine synthase TruD from Escherichia coli.

Pseudouridine, the 5-ribosyl isomer of uridine, is the most common modification of structural RNA. The recently identified pseudouridine synthase TruD belongs to a widespread class of pseudouridine synthases without significant sequence homology to previously known families. TruD from Escherichia coli was overexpressed, purified and crystallized. The crystals diffract to a minimum Bragg spacing of 2.4 A and belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 63.4, b = 108.6, c = 111.7 A.