A new view on crystal harvesting. (1st June 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luft, Joseph R.; Grant, Thomas D.; Wolfley, Jennifer R.; Snell, Edward H.
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied crystallography. Volume 47:Part 3(2014:Jun.)
• Page Start: 1158
• Page End: 1161
• Publication Date: 2014-06-01
• Subjects: Crystallography -- Periodicals; 548.05
• DOI: 10.1107/S1600576714008899
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-8898

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>X‐ray crystallography typically requires the mounting of crystals, which can make the sample difficult to manipulate when it is small and the microscope objective is close to the crystallization plate. By simply moving the objective to the bottom of a clear crystallization plate (inverting the normal view), crystals were able to be manipulated and harvested from wells having a 0.9 mm diameter and 5.0 mm depth. The mounting system enabled the structural solution of the 187 amino acid N‐terminal domain of <italic>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</italic> glutaminyl‐tRNA synthetase from crystals that appeared during high‐throughput screening but proved recalcitrant to scale‐up and optimization. While not a general mounting solution, the simple expedient of removing the objective lens from the area where manipulation and harvesting occur greatly facilitates the manual, or even automated, process.</p> </abstract>