MurM is an aminoacyl ligase that adds L-serine or L-alanine as the first amino acid of a dipeptide branch to the stem peptide lysine of the pneumococcal peptidoglycan. MurM activity is essential for clinical pneumococcal penicillin resistance. Analysis of peptidoglycan from the highly penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strain 159 revealed that in vivo and in vitro, in the presence of the appropriate acyl-tRNA, MurM 159 alanylated the peptidoglycan ⑀-amino group of the stem peptide lysine in preference to its serylation. However, in contrast, identical analyses of the penicillin-susceptible strain Pn16 revealed that MurM Pn16 activity supported serylation more than alanylation both in vivo and in vitro. The stem peptide is constructed in the cytoplasm appended to a UDP nucleotide (Fig.

An ORF designated sp1530 (murE) in the Streptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4 genome sequence, identified as uridine 5'-diphospho-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanyl-D-glutamate:L-lysine ligase (MurE; EC 6.3.2.7), was cloned into the high-expression plasmid pET21b and overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) Star. The enzyme was purified in three steps to 99% purity. Crystals were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 291 K from solutions containing 25%(w/v) polyethylene glycol 2000 monomethylether, 0.2 M potassium thiocyanate, 0.1 M MES pH 6.5 in the presence of uridine 5'-diphospho-N-acetylmuramoyl alanyl glutamate (UDP-MurNAc-L-Ala-D-Glu) with and without 5'-adenylyl imidophosphate (AMP-PNP), a non-hydrolysable analogue of ATP. Diffraction data to 1.5 and 2.7 A, respectively, were collected at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Crystals grown in the presence of two ligands belong to space group P1, with unit-cell parameters a = 68.4, b = 71.4, c = 74.8 A, alpha = 73.4, beta = 80.5, gamma = 72.3 degrees. Crystals grown in the presence of UDP-MurNAc-L-Ala-D-Glu alone belong to space group P2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 71.1, b = 129.4, c = 74.6 A, beta = 106.3 degrees.

An ORF designated b2245 (yfaU) in the Escherichia coli K12 genome sequence, identi®ed as an HHED aldolase homologue, was cloned into the high-expression plasmid pT7-7 and overexpressed in E. coli B835(DE3). The enzyme was puri®ed in three steps to 95% purity prior to crystallization. Crystals were obtained by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method at 277 K from a number of screening conditions. Crystals suitable for structural studies were grown from solutions containing 0.4 M ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and grew to a maximum dimension of approximately 0.5 mm. Diffraction data to 1.7 A Ê were collected using an in-house Cu K radiation source at 100 K. The crystals belong to space group C222 1 , with unitcell parameters a = 105.1, b = 136.6, c = 123.1 A Ê . A 90% complete data set was collected to 1.78 A Ê from a single native crystal using in-house facilities.