Preparation, crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of threonine synthase from Streptococcus mutans.

The thrC gene of Streptococcus mutans encodes threonine synthase, which is a potential target for drug design. To study the structure and function of the enzyme, the thrC gene was amplified from Streptococcus mutans genomic DNA and cloned into the expression vector pET28alpha. The protein was expressed in Escherichia coli in soluble form and purified to homogeneity.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of D-alanine-D-alanine ligase from Streptococcus mutans.

D-Alanine-D-alanine ligase is encoded by the gene ddl (SMU_599) in Streptococcus mutans. This ligase plays a very important role in cell-wall biosynthesis and may be a potential target for drug design. To study the structure and function of this ligase, the gene ddl was amplified from S.