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Determination of Crystal Structures

Determination of Crystal Structures

In the late 1800s, the revelation that light extended beyond visible wavelengths led to the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Roentgen. Recognized as high-energy electromagnetic radiation with short wavelengths, X-rays prompted exploration into their interaction with crystals. Max von Laue proposed in 1912 that the periodic arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in crystals would cause them to diffract X-rays, a hypothesis confirmed through experiments with copper sulfate and zinc sulfide...

X-ray Crystallography

X-ray Crystallography

The size of the unit cell and the arrangement of atoms in a crystal may be determined from measurements of the diffraction of X-rays by the crystal, termed X-ray crystallography.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the change in the direction of travel experienced by an electromagnetic wave when it encounters a physical barrier whose dimensions are comparable to those of the wavelength of the light. X-rays are electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths about as long as the distance between neighboring...

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Derivatization of Protein Crystals with I3C using Random Microseed Matrix Screening

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Iterative projection algorithms for ab initio phasing in virus crystallography.

Victor L Lo¹, Richard L Kingston², Rick P Millane¹

¹Computational Imaging Group, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Journal of Structural Biology

|September 14, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Iterative projection algorithms enable ab initio phasing in virus crystallography without prior phase information. This method accurately determines electron density for icosahedral viruses, facilitating model building.

Keywords:

Ab initio Crystallography Iterative projection algorithm Phasing Virus

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Area of Science:

Structural biology
Crystallography
Biophysics

Background:

Ab initio phasing is crucial for determining protein structures, especially for viruses.
Traditional phasing methods often require initial phase information, which can be difficult to obtain for viruses.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and validate iterative projection algorithms for ab initio phasing in virus crystallography.
To demonstrate the capability of these algorithms to determine high-resolution phases without initial phase information.

Main Methods:

Application of iterative projection algorithms to virus crystallography data.
Utilizing the spherical shape and high structural redundancy of icosahedral viruses.
Phasing a virus crystal with 5-fold non-crystallographic symmetry using only a spherical shell envelope.

Main Results:

Successful determination of high-resolution phases for an icosahedral virus crystal.
Obtained electron density map was sufficiently accurate for subsequent model building.
Demonstrated the effectiveness of the iterative projection approach for virus structures.

Conclusions:

Iterative projection algorithms are a powerful tool for ab initio phasing in virus crystallography.
This method eliminates the need for ancillary phase information, simplifying structure determination.
The approach is expected to become a routine technique in virus crystallography.