title: Native SAD is maturing.
abstract: Native SAD phasing uses the anomalous scattering signal of light atoms in the crystalline, native samples of macromolecules collected from single-wavelength X-ray diffraction experiments. These atoms include sodium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, potassium and calcium. Native SAD phasing is challenging and is critically dependent on the collection of accurate data. Over the past five years, advances in diffraction hardware, crystallographic software, data-collection methods and strategies, and the use of data statistics have been witnessed which allow 'highly accurate data' to be routinely collected. Today, native SAD sits on the verge of becoming a 'first-choice' method for both de novo and molecular-replacement structure determination. This article will focus on advances that have caught the attention of the community over the past five years. It will also highlight both de novo native SAD structures and recent structures that were key to methods development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia , Athens, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia , Athens, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Bi-Cheng
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie , Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Weiss
keywords: accurate data collection; data multiplicity; native SAD; new data-scaling techniques; new instruments; radiation damage; sulfur SAD