Cloning, expression, crystallization and preliminary X-ray studies of the ferredoxin–NAD(P)⁺ reductase from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1

Ferredoxin–NADP⁺ reductase (FNR) is a flavoenzyme that catalyses the reduction of NADP⁺ in the final step of the photosynthetic electron-transport chain. FNR from the thermophilic cyanobacterium Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 (TeFNR) contains an additional 9 kDa domain at its N-terminus relative to chloroplastic FNRs and is more thermostable than those from mesophilic cyanobacteria. With the aim of understanding the structural basis of the thermostability of TeFNR and assigning a structural role to the small additional domain, the gene encoding TeFNR with and without an additional domain was engineered for heterologous expression and the recombinant proteins were purified and crystallized. Crystals of TeFNR without the additional domain belonged to space group P2₁, with unit-cell parameters a = 55.05, b = 71.66, c = 89.73 Å, α = 90, β = 98.21, γ = 90°.