Dihydrodipicolinate Synthase (DHDPS)

The structure of this enzyme from Bacillus anthracis is now available in the Gallery. It is the first alpha/beta barrel native quaternary structure to be reassembled. Using this structure as a template should help in the reassembly of other alpha/beta barrel structures. There is a ragged edge on the z-axis of this structure that corresponds to an area of inter-subunit contact in the crystal. Probably this is an example of damage to the tertiary structure caused by crystallization.