What is the most common method of solving the phase problem in protein crystallography?

What is the most common method of solving the phase problem in protein crystallography? The most common approach to this problem has been multiple isomorphous replacement (MIR) (Green et al., 1954). Figure 3 Each reflection

What is the most common method of solving the phase problem in protein crystallography?

The most common approach to this problem has been multiple isomorphous replacement (MIR) (Green et al., 1954). Figure 3 Each reflection in the diffraction pattern can be described as a wave with a certain magnitude and phase.

How is the phase problem solved for proteins?

The phase problem can in general be solved by using heavy atom derivatized crystals (see e.g., Watenpaugh, 1985). For each set of Bragg indices hkl the structure factor of the native form Fp is compared with that from a heavy atom derivative crystal Fph.

What is a phase in XRD?

A phase is a crystalline solid with a regular 3-dimensional arrangement of the atoms. The measured diffraction peak positions and intensities are like a fingerprint of a particular crystalline phase. This is also known as qualitative phase analysis.

What is a phase diffraction?

Diffraction Phase Microscopy (DPM) is a widely used quantitative phase imaging method, whose common-path nature endows it with low noise and high sensitivity. Current applications of DPM include biological topography as well as biological dynamics for its nondestructive feature.

How is structure factor calculated?

Definition

  1. The structure factor \mathbf{F}_{hkl} is a mathematical function describing the amplitude and phase of a wave diffracted from crystal lattice planes characterised by Miller indices h, k, l.
  2. \mathbf{F}_{hkl} = F_{hkl}\exp(i\alpha_{hkl}) = \sum_j f_j\exp[2\pi i (hx_j + ky_j + lz_j)]

Why is phase information lost?

But really what happens is that photons are reflected from the crystal in different directions with a probability proportional to the square of the amplitude of this wave. We count the photons, and we lose any information about the relative phases of different diffraction.

What is phase of a wave?

The phase involves the relationship between the position of the amplitude crests and troughs of two waveforms. Phase can be measured in distance, time, or degrees. If the peaks of two signals with the same frequency are in exact alignment at the same time, they are said to be in phase.

What are crystalline phases?

5.5. 1 General Aspects. Liquid crystalline phases, also referred to as mesophases, are surfactant-based systems that comprise properties of both liquids and solids. These transparent isotropic solutions possess specific properties, such as thermodynamic stability and low viscosity.

What causes diffraction?

Diffraction is caused by one wave of light being shifted by a diffracting object. This shift will cause the wave to have interference with itself. Interference can be either constructive or destructive. These patterns of interference rely on the size of the diffracting object and the size of the wave.