Crystallization and X‐ray diffraction analysis of chondroitin lyase from baculovirus: envelope protein ODV‐E66

Baculovirus envelope protein ODV‐E66 (67–704), in which the N‐terminal 66 amino acids are truncated, is a chondroitin lyase. It digests chondroitin and chondroitin 6‐sulfate efficiently, but does not digest chondroitin 4‐sulfate. This unique characteristic is useful for the preparation of specific chondroitin oligosaccharides and for investigation of the mechanism of baculovirus infection. ODV‐E66 (67–704) was crystallized; the crystal diffracted to 1.8 Å resolution and belonged to space group P 6 2 or P 6 4 , with unit‐cell parameters a  =  b  = 113.5, c = 101.5 Å. One molecule is assumed to be present per asymmetric unit, which gives a Matthews coefficient of 2.54 Å 3  Da −1 .