Crystallization of the C‐terminal head domain of the avian adenovirus CELO long fibre

Avian adenovirus CELO contains two different fibres: fibre 1, the long fibre, and fibre 2, the short fibre. The short fibre is responsible for binding to an unknown avian receptor and is essential for infection of birds. The long fibre is not essential, but is known to bind the coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor protein. Both trimeric fibres are attached to the same penton base, of which each icosahedral virus contains 12 copies. The short fibre extends straight outwards, while the long fibre emerges at an angle. The carboxy‐terminal amino acids 579–793 of the avian adenovirus long fibre have been expressed with an amino‐terminal hexahistidine tag and the expressed trimeric protein has been purified by nickel‐affinity chromatography and crystallized. Crystals were grown at low pH using PEG 10 000 as precipitant and belonged to space group C 2. The crystals diffracted rotating‐anode Cu  K α radiation to at least 1.9 Å resolution and a complete data set was collected from a single crystal to 2.2 Å resolution. Unit‐cell parameters were a = 216.5, b = 59.2, c = 57.5 Å, β = 101.3°, suggesting one trimer per asymmetric unit and a solvent content of 46%. The long fibre head does not have significant sequence homology to any other protein of known structure and molecular‐replacement attempts with known fibre‐head structures were unsuccessful. However, a map calculated using SIRAS phasing shows a clear trimer with a shape similar to known adenovirus fibre‐head structures. Structure solution is in progress.