Macromolecular Crystallization and Crystal Perfection

The crystallization of proteins and nucleic acids and/or their complexes has become more highly automated but is still often a trial and error based approach. In parallel, a number of X-ray diffraction based techniques have been developed which explain the physical reasons limiting the resulting crystallographic data and thus show how that data may be improved. Crystal growth is also pivotal in neutron crystallography, which establishes the hydrogen and hydration aspects. Thus this book is aimed at addressing the science behind obtaining the best and most complete structural data possible for biological macromolecules, so that the detailed structural biology and chemistry of these important molecules emerge. Crystal imperfections such as twinning and lattice disorders, as well as multiple crystal situations, and their possible remedies, are also described. The small crystal frontier in micro-crystal crystallography, crystallites in powders and finally down to the proposed single molecule structure determination of X-ray lasers are covered. Overall this interdisciplinary book will interest crystal growers, X-ray and neutron physicists and the biological crystallographers, including graduate students.

ISBN 0199213259   Pages 240 ISBN13 9780199213252 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 538 Publisher Oxford University Press   Published in Oxford Imprint Oxford University Press   Series title International Union of Crystallography - Monographs on Crystallography Format Hardback   Height (mm) 240 Publication date 25 Mar 2010   Width (mm) 160 DEWEY 548.8   Spine width (mm) 16 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Postgraduate, Professional / Scholarly

1		Introduction		3
2		Crystallization theory		21
3		Practical methods of crystallization		24
4		Screening		29
5		Optimization		38
6		Strategies to apply when high-quality crystals cannot obtained		48
7		Membrane proteins		53
8		Alternative approaches		58
9		Experimental aspects		67
10		Analysis of the molecular short-range order		78
11		Analysis of long-range order		83
12		Macromolecular crystals and twinning		96
13		Other macromolecular crystal diffraction disorders		112
14		Degradation and improvement of crystal perfection		119
15		Unusual diffraction geometries		132
16		Making the most difficult crystals - beamline and detector optimization		137
17		Protein powders - making the most of tiny crystallites in bulk		151
18		Complementary techniques		158
19		The X-ray laser and the single molecule - no crystal needed?		163
20		Overall summary and future thoughts		168
		Glossary of abbreviations, terms and symbols		170
		References		175
		Index		219

A streamlined and logical summary of the sequence of procedures that a crystallographer needs to follow to obtain the structure of a protein of interest. The discussion greatly benefits from the authors' practical experience as protein crystallographers who have important structures under their belts. The Journal of the American Chemical Society According to the back cover of this excellent book, the target readership includes a diverse range of scientists. In my opinion, the authors have succeeded brilliantly in this aim; [...] the book provides not only the key basic facts, but also provides the reader with the essential information to investigate further. The book is timely and informative and certainly ought to be widely read by a range of different scientists with interests in macromolecular structure. Chemistry World

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