Crystallization and Preliminary X-ray Analysis of the Major Cellulose-binding Domain of the Cellulosome from Clostridium thermocellum

The cellulose-binding domain from the scaffoldin subunit of the cellulosome from Clostridium thermocellum strain YS has been expressed in Escherichia coli , purified to homogeneity, and crystallized. Crystals were grown by vapor diffusion using polyethylene glycol as precipitant. They belong to the monoclinic space group C2 with unit cell dimensions of a = 64.68 Å, b = 50.36 Å, c = 96.27 Å; β = 99.43°, and density packing considerations suggest that the asymmetric unit contains two molecules. The crystals diffract beyond 2.0 Å resolution using a laboratory rotating anode source.