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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Neutron Crystallography Data Collection and Processing for Modelling Hydrogen Atoms in Protein Structures
Published on: December 1, 2020
In vivo deuteration strategies for neutron scattering analysis of bacterial polyhydroxyoctanoate
Robert A Russell1, Peter J Holden, Karyn L Wilde
1ANSTO Institute for Environmental Research, PMB 1, Menai, Sydney, NSW 2234, Australia. robert.russell@ansto.gov.au
Abstract:
The cultivation of microorganisms on deuterated substrates has allowed us to control deuterium incorporation into biopolymer systems which is important for characterisation using neutron scattering techniques. Bacterial polyhydroxyoctanoate (PHO) is a polyester formed within inclusions inside bacterial cells and was deuterated in vivo under various conditions to characterise the formation of these inclusions by neutron scattering. Manipulation of deuterated media during microbial growth and PHO production phases resulted in polymer with partial or complete substitution of hydrogen by deuterium, as shown by gas chromatography. Sequential feeding of hydrogenated and deuterated forms of the same precursor was used to demonstrate that neutron scattering analysis could be used to differentiate between chemically similar phases in these polymer inclusions.
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