Nepenthesins are aspartic proteases secreted by carnivorous pitcher plants of the genus Nepenthes. They significantly differ in sequence from other plant aspartic proteases.
This difference, which provides more cysteine residues in the structure of nepenthesins, may contribute to their unique stability profile. Recombinantly produced nepenthesin 1 ( rNep1) from N. gracilis in complex with pepstatin A was crystallized under two different crystallization conditions using a newly formulated low- pH crystallization screen.