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Use of electron microscopy in the examination of lattice defects in crystals of alcohol oxidase
Author(s) -
Van der Klei Ida J.,
Lawson Catherine L.,
Rozeboom Henriëtte,
Dijkstra Bauke W.,
Veenhuis Marten,
Harder Wim,
Hol Wim G.J.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(89)81195-0
Subject(s) - electron microscope , alcohol oxidase , microscopy , materials science , crystallography , chemistry , optics , physics , biochemistry , pichia pastoris , recombinant dna , gene
Alcohol oxidase, purified from the yeast Hansenula polymorpha , was crystallized in vitro for the purpose of determining its structure at atomic resolution by X‐ray diffraction methods. The crystals obtained yielded only extremely weak diffraction patterns: the maximal resolution observed was in the best case 6 Å. Electron microscopy of thin sections indicated that most crystals showed lattice defects which might explain the poor diffraction patterns: most surprising was the appearance of large holes interrupting an otherwise regular lattice in one of the crystal forms examined. Our results indicate that transmission electron microscopy is a suitable tool for the inspection of crystals to be used in X‐ray crystallography. The method allows rapid determination of lattice defects and enables optimization of crystallization conditions.