X-Ray Crystallography Facility

Facility manager: Dr Nora Cronin

Crystallisation Laboratory:

Users of the laboratory have crystallization robots available to streamline the process of crystal production and optimization. These include the  AlchemistTM II with  CrystalTrakTM software enabling the creation of custom crystallization screens simply and easily, allowing the setup of any type of gradient and then performing all the calculations and pipetting automatically; a Fluidigm TOPAZ system (for experiments where there is a limited supply of protein); a Douglas Instruments Oryx 6 for crystallization under oil and microseeding and a Phoenix nanodispensor for sitting-drop 96-well crystal plate experiment setup. Plates (Nextal, Douglas Vapour Batch etc) are stored in RUMED incubators at several temperatures and in a  designated cold-room at 4°C. Most commercial crystallisation screens are available.

X-Ray Laboratory:

Users have the use of two X-ray systems. These comprise firstly a Rigaku RU300HB generator, Osmic mirrors, Marresearch Mar345 detector and Rigaku X-Stream cryostream and secondly a microfocus source - Bruker AXS Microstar generator with Montel 200 optic, X8 PROTEUM Kappa 4-Axis Goniometer, Pt135 CCD detector, X-stream cryostream and BruNo High Throughput Sample Changer. Programmable incubators are available in the hutches to store crystals during experiments. The X-ray laboratory permits in-house screening prior to synchrotron trips which take place on average bi-monthly principally to the ESRF in Grenoble and Diamond Light Source, Oxford.