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Macromolecule Crystal Quality Improvement in Microgravity: The Role of ImpuritiesWhile macromolecule impurities may affect crystal size and morphology the over-riding question is; "How do macromolecule impurities effect crystal X-ray quality and diffraction resolution?" In the case of chicken egg white lysozyme, crystals can be grown in the presence of a number of impurities without affecting diffraction resolution. One impurity however, the lysozyme dimer, does negatively impact the X-ray crystal properties. Crystal quality improvement as a result of better partitioning of this impurity during crystallization in microgravity has been reported'. In our recent experimental work dimer partitioning was found to be not significantly different between the two environments. Mosaicity analysis of pure crystals showed a reduced mosaicity and increased signal to noise for the microgravity grown crystals. Dimer incorporation however, did greatly reduce the resolution limit in both ground and microgravity grown crystals. These results indicate that impurity effects in microgravity are complex and may rely on the conditions or techniques employed.
Document ID
20000067636
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Judge, Russell A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Snell, Edward H.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Pusey, Marc L.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Sportiello, Michael G.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO United States)
Todd, Paul
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO United States)
Bellamy, Henry
(Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lab. Stanford, CA United States)
Borgstahl, Gloria E.
(Toledo Univ. OH United States)
Pokros, Matt
(Toledo Univ. OH United States)
Cassanto, John M.
(Instrumentation Technology Associates, Inc. Exton, PA United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Solid-State Physics
Meeting Information
Meeting: ACA Annual Meeting
Location: Saint Paul, MN
Country: United States
Start Date: July 23, 2000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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