Purification, crystallization and preliminary X‐ray analysis of OsAREB8 from rice, a member of the AREB/ABF family of bZIP transcription factors, in complex with its cognate DNA

The AREB/ABF family of bZIP transcription factors play a key role in drought stress response and tolerance during the vegetative stage in plants. To reveal the DNA‐recognition mechanism of the AREB/ABF family of proteins, the bZIP domain of OsAREB8, an AREB/ABF‐family protein from Oryza sativa , was expressed in Escherichia coli , purified and crystallized with its cognate DNA. Crystals of the OsAREB8–DNA complex were obtained by the sitting‐drop vapour‐diffusion method at 277 K with a reservoir solution consisting of 50 m M MES pH 6.4, 29% MPD, 2 m M spermidine, 20 m M magnesium acetate and 100 m M sodium chloride. A crystal diffracted X‐rays to 3.65 Å resolution and belonged to space group C 222, with unit‐cell parameters a = 155.1, b = 206.7, c = 38.5 Å. The crystal contained one OsAREB8–DNA complex in the asymmetric unit.