Resolving polymorphs and radiation-driven effects in microcrystals using fixed-target serial synchrotron crystallography

DOI: 10.1107/S2059798318010240

Authors: Ali Ebrahim (University of Essex; Diamond Light Source) , Martin V. Appleby (Diamond Light Source) , Danny Axford (Diamond Light Source) , John Beale (Diamond Light Source) , Tadeo Moreno-chicano (University of Essex) , Darren A. Sherrell (Diamond Light Source) , Richard W. Strange (University of Essex) , Michael A. Hough (University of Essex) , Robin L. Owen (Diamond Light Source)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Acta Crystallographica Section D Structural Biology , VOL 75

State: Published (Approved)
Published: November 2018
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 14493

Abstract: The ability to determine high-quality, artefact-free structures is a challenge in micro-crystallography, and the rapid onset of radiation damage and requirement for a high-brilliance X-ray beam mean that a multi-crystal approach is essential. However, the combination of crystal-to-crystal variation and X-ray-induced changes can make the formation of a final complete data set challenging; this is particularly true in the case of metalloproteins, where X-ray-induced changes occur rapidly and at the active site. An approach is described that allows the resolution, separation and structure determination of crystal polymorphs, and the tracking of radiation damage in microcrystals. Within the microcrystal population of copper nitrite reductase, two polymorphs with different unit-cell sizes were successfully separated to determine two independent structures, and an X-ray-driven change between these polymorphs was followed. This was achieved through the determination of multiple serial structures from microcrystals using a high-throughput high-speed fixed-target approach coupled with robust data processing.

Journal Keywords: radiation damage; fixed-target serial crystallography; metalloproteins; polymorphism; room temperature

Subject Areas: Biology and Bio-materials


Instruments: I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography

Documents:
ba5292.pdf