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Neutron Laue diffraction experiments on a large unit cell: concanavalin A complexed with methyl‐α‐ d ‐glucopyranoside
Author(s) -
Kalb Gilboa A. Joseph,
Myles Dean A. A.,
Habash Jarjis,
Raftery James,
Helliwell John R.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889801007245
Subject(s) - neutron diffraction , concanavalin a , crystallography , diffraction , neutron , chemistry , macromolecule , crystal (programming language) , x ray crystallography , materials science , crystal structure , physics , optics , nuclear physics , biochemistry , programming language , computer science , in vitro
A neutron Laue diffraction experiment on a complex of concanavalin A with methyl‐α‐ d ‐glucopyranoside extensively soaked in D 2 O (space group I 2 1 3, a = 167.8 Å), which resulted in 3.5 Å diffraction data, is described. In a programme of structural studies of crystalline saccharide complexes of concanavalin A, the unit cell of the cubic I 2 1 3 complex of concanavalin A with methyl‐α‐ d ‐glucopyranoside is one of the largest. With its cell edge of 167.8 Å and its asymmetric unit of molecular weight 50 kDa, it represents a challenge for current neutron diffraction technology. The size of the crystal used in this experiment, although large (4 × 3 × 2 mm), was not the largest ever produced for this complex. The degree of spatial overlapping observed in the Laue experiment, however, suggests that use of larger crystals would be a disadvantage. On the basis of these observations, several technical improvements for macromolecular neutron crystallography are suggested.