A comparison of SAD and two-wavelength MAD phasing for radiation-damaged Se-MET crystals.
Although a case has been made that single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (SAD) is the optimal strategy for data collection in the presence of radiation damage, two-wavelength MAD experiments at the inflection and a high-energy remote point of the absorption edge have been shown to be a potentially successful alternative method. In order to further investigate the performance of both data collection strategies, a comparison of SAD and MAD phasing was carried out for increasingly damaged data sets from three different seleno-methionine protein samples collected under similar experimental conditions. In all but one example the MAD phases appeared to be less affected than SAD phases with increasing exposure to X-rays, and had a better overall success rate, indicating that this method should be given serious consideration when dealing with radiation-sensitive crystals. Simultaneous data collection in wedges at all wavelengths seems to be a very important factor in the success of MAD experiments; the decreased absorbed dose resulting from eschewing data collection at the maximum f '' wavelength may play a less important role. Specific radiation damage to the selenium atoms is found to be a minor effect compared with the effect on the anomalous dispersion signal, although potentially large enough to be a useful contribution to phasing in both SAD and MAD experiments.
González
Ana
A
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 99, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. ana@slac.stanford.edu
D003198:Computer Simulation; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray / Q000379:methods*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation / Q000528:radiation effects; D011489:Protein Denaturation / Q000528:radiation effects; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014965:X-Rays
D046911:Macromolecular Substances