Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of salutaridine reductase from the opium poppy Papaver somniferum

Abstract

The opium poppy Papaver somniferum is the source of the narcotic analgesics morphine and codeine. Salutaridine reductase (SalR; EC 1.1.1.248) reduces the C-7 keto group of salutaridine to the C-7 (S)-hydroxyl group of salutaridinol in the biosynthetic pathway that leads to morphine in the opium poppy plant. P. somniferum SalR was overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified using cobalt-affinity and size-exclusion chromatography. Hexagonal crystals belonging to space group P6422 or P6222 were obtained using ammonium sulfate as precipitant and diffracted to a resolution of 1.9 Å. © 2010 International Union of Crystallography All rights reserved.