The N-terminal part of Candida tropicalis MFE-2 (MFE-2(h2Delta)) having two (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases with different substrate specificities has been purified and crystallized as a recombinant protein. The expressed construct was modified so that a stabile. homogeneous protein could be obtained instead of an unstabile wild-type form with a large amount of cleavage products. Cubic crystals with unit cell parameters a = 74.895, b = 78.340, c = 95.445, and alpha = beta = gamma = 90degrees were obtained by using PEG 4000 as a precipitant. The crystals exhibit the space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and contain one molecule, consisting of two different (3R)-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenases, in the asymmetric unit. The crystals diffract to a resolution of 2.2 Angstrom at a conventional X-ray source. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.