Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic analysis of a non-specific lipid-transfer protein with antipathogenic activity from Phaseolus mungo.

A 9 kDa non-specific lipid-transfer protein (nsLTP) from mung bean (Phaseolus mungo) seeds, displaying antifungal activity, antibacterial activity and lipid-transfer activity, was crystallized at 297 K using ammonium sulfate as a precipitant by means of the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Native X-ray diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.4 A. The crystals are rhombohedral, belonging to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 38.671, b = 51.785, c = 55.925 A. Assuming the presence of one molecule in the crystallographic asymmetric unit results in a Matthews coefficient (V(M)) of approximately 3.0 A(3) Da(-1), corresponding to a solvent content of about 58%.