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Organization Modes and Electron Radiation Damage of Cardiolipin Crystals
Author(s) -
Valdrè Giovanni,
Muscatello Umberto
Publication year - 1998
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/s0021889898007031
Subject(s) - selected area diffraction , transmission electron microscopy , cardiolipin , crystallography , electron diffraction , nucleation , diffraction , nanometre , radiation damage , electron , chemistry , electron density , electron microscope , materials science , radiation , chemical physics , nanotechnology , optics , physics , organic chemistry , membrane , phospholipid , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , composite material
Cardiolipin (tetraacyldiphosphatidylglycerol) microcrystals have been studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and selected‐area electron diffraction (SAED). Different preparation methods lead to different aggregation modes. It is also found that cardiolipin crystals are very susceptible to electron radiation damage, the dose d l required for the disappearance of the diffraction intensity being about 10 C cm (corresponding to a transferred energy density of about 10–20 eV nm), very close to that of aliphatic amino acids and paraffin. This transferred energy density is compatible with the energy required for the rupture of the C–C and C–H bonds. The damage does not appear to nucleate randomly, but in specific parts of the crystals where the structure is distorted as a result of bending, structural defects, or a less organized packing. The finest organized structures revealed by low‐dose TEM are rather coarse, of the order of a nanometre, whereas SAED shows the presence of periodicities down to 0.2 nm.