Purification and crystallization of the yeast elongation factor eEF2

Crystals of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae elongation factor 2 (eEF2) in complex with GDP were obtained with the vapour-diffusion technique after rapid purification from industrial yeast. The crystals diffract to 2.85 Å and belong to the space group P212121. A yeast strain expressing a functional histidine-tagged eEF2 as the only form of the protein further allows facilitated purification of the factor for both structural and functional studies.