Crystallization of a new form of the eye lens protein βB2-crystallin

A new crystal form of the bovine oligomeric lens protein βB2 has been grown in the presence of calcium acetate. The crystals are orthorhombic, I222 or I212121, with cell dimensions . This new crystal form, which diffracts to at least 2.5 Å, has a and b cell dimensions that are half those of the original crystal form, although there is no simple relationship between the c cell dimensions. The new crystal form reported here contains only one subunit per asymmetric unit, indicating that the dimer lies on a crystallographic 2-fold axis, and is a suitable candidate for molecular replacement studies