A family I.3 lipase from Pseudomonas sp. MIS38 was secreted from Escherichia coli cells to the external medium, purified and crystallized and preliminary crystallographic studies were performed. The crystal was grown at 277 K by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method. Native X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.7 Å resolution using synchrotron radiation at station BL38B1, SPring-8. The crystal belongs to space group P21, with unit-cell parameters a = 48.79, b = 84.06, c = 87.04 Å. Assuming the presence of one molecule per asymmetric unit, the Matthews coefficient V M was calculated to be 2.73 Å3 Da-1 and the solvent content was 55%. © International Union of Crystallography 2007.