X06DA - PXIII : Macromolecular Crystallography
Latest news
- 6-8 Nov. 2012: Organisation of a Biostruct-X workshop on advanced diffraction data collection with multi-axis goniometer and single-photon counting detector (workshop website)
- Jan. 2012: Installation of a multi-axis goniometer PRIGo (Parallel Robotics Inspired Goniometer)
- Nov. 2011: Installation of a PILATUS 2M detector
X06DA endstation with the PILATUS 2M detector and the PRIGo goniometer (Jan. 2012)
A Production Beamline for Macromolecular Crystallography
X06DA (PXIII) is the third macromolecular crystallography beamline at the Swiss Light Source. It is funded by a partnership between the Paul Scherrer Institut and Swiss and international pharmaceutical companies (Novartis, Actelion, Boehringer Ingelheim, Proteros and Mitsubishi Chemical). Complementing the existing high performance undulator beamlines X06SA and X10SA, the optical concept and the experimental environment for X06DA have been optimized for simplicity. The beamline receives light from a 2.9 T superbend magnet. The optical design results in a sub 80 microns x 45 microns focused beam at the sample position with a total photon flux comparable to an undulator beamline. The experimental station offers both efficient manual mounting with a mini-hutch design and automatic robotic sample mounting.As part of the automation concept of X06DA, a crystallization facility, directly adjacent to the experimental mini-hutch has been integrated. This unique and fully automated set-up allows for testing of initial crystals for their X-ray diffraction characteristics in situ, i.e. directly in the crystallization container without post-crystallization treatment which could harm the crystal and hamper diffraction. Structural biologists can easily distinguish desired macromolecular crystals from unwanted salt crystals and obtain a rapid feedback on the diffraction quality and important parameters such as limit of resolution, anisotropy, cell parameters, and mosaicity. In situ X-ray diffraction thus helps to better prioritise on subsequent crystal optimisation trials and can in few cases even lead to a complete crystallographic dataset.
Beamline Characteristics
| Endstation | Mini-hutch (fast manual mounting), multi-axis goniometer, sample changer, in situ X-ray diffraction screening |
|---|---|
| Spectral range | 6.0 - 17.5 keV (2.07 - 0.71 Å) |
| Flux | 5 x 10E11 photons /sec /400 mA (at 12.4 keV, 1.0 Å) |
| Energy resolution | 1.4 x 10-4 |
| Focused spot size | 80 µm x 45 µm (h x v) |
In-situ X-ray Diffraction Screening
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