title: Use of electron microscopy in the examination of lattice defects in crystals of alcohol oxidase.
abstract: 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 A. 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Van der Klei
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rozeboom
authors.forename: B W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Veenhuis
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Hol
mesh_terms: D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D002122:Calcium Chloride; D003460:Crystallization; D004229:Dithiothreitol; D004492:Edetic Acid; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010843:Pichia / Q000201:enzymology*; D004718:Saccharomycetales / Q000201:enzymology*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D004492:Edetic Acid; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; C019643:alcohol oxidase; D002122:Calcium Chloride; D004229:Dithiothreitol