ID23-2 is a fixed-energy (14.2 keV) microfocus beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) dedicated to macromolecular crystallography. The optics and sample environment have recently been redesigned and rebuilt to take full advantage of the upgrade of the ESRF to the fourth generation Extremely Brilliant Source (ESRF-EBS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFID30A-3 (or MASSIF-3) is a mini-focus (beam size 18 µm × 14 µm) highly intense (2.0 × 10 photons s), fixed-energy (12.81 keV) beamline for macromolecular crystallography (MX) experiments at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFID30B is an undulator-based high-intensity, energy-tuneable (6.0-20 keV) and variable-focus (20-200 µm in diameter) macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamline at the ESRF. It was the last of the ESRF Structural Biology Group's beamlines to be constructed and commissioned as part of the ESRF's Phase I Upgrade Program and has been in user operation since June 2015.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAutomation of the mounting of cryocooled samples is now a feature of the majority of beamlines dedicated to macromolecular crystallography (MX). Robotic sample changers have been developed over many years, with the latest designs increasing capacity, reliability and speed. Here, the development of a new sample changer deployed at the ESRF beamline MASSIF-1 (ID30A-1), based on an industrial six-axis robot, is described.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of automated high-intensity macromolecular crystallography (MX) beamlines at synchrotron facilities has resulted in a remarkable increase in sample throughput. Developments in X-ray detector technology now mean that complete X-ray diffraction datasets can be collected in less than one minute. Such high-speed collection, and the volumes of data that it produces, often make it difficult for even the most experienced users to cope with the deluge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFID29 is an ESRF undulator beamline with a routinely accessible energy range of between 20.0 keV and 6.0 keV (λ = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA reliable and reproducible method to automatically characterize the radiation sensitivity of macromolecular crystals at the ESRF beamlines has been developed. This new approach uses the slope of the linear dependence of the overall isotropic B-factor with absorbed dose as the damage metric. The method has been implemented through an automated procedure using the EDNA on-line data analysis framework and the MxCuBE data collection control interface.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe design and features of a beamline control software system for macromolecular crystallography (MX) experiments developed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) are described. This system, MxCuBE, allows users to easily and simply interact with beamline hardware components and provides automated routines for common tasks in the operation of a synchrotron beamline dedicated to experiments in MX. Additional functionality is provided through intuitive interfaces that enable the assessment of the diffraction characteristics of samples, experiment planning, automatic data collection and the on-line collection and analysis of X-ray emission spectra.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActa Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr
August 2010
Crystals of biological macromolecules often exhibit considerable inter-crystal and intra-crystal variation in diffraction quality. This requires the evaluation of many samples prior to data collection, a practice that is already widespread in macromolecular crystallography. As structural biologists move towards tackling ever more ambitious projects, new automated methods of sample evaluation will become crucial to the success of many projects, as will the availability of synchrotron-based facilities optimized for high-throughput evaluation of the diffraction characteristics of samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first phase of the ESRF beamline ID23 to be constructed was ID23-1, a tunable MAD-capable beamline which opened to users in early 2004. The second phase of the beamline to be constructed is ID23-2, a monochromatic microfocus beamline dedicated to macromolecular crystallography experiments. Beamline ID23-2 makes use of well characterized optical elements: a single-bounce silicon (111) monochromator and two mirrors in Kirkpatrick-Baez geometry to focus the X-ray beam.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFID14-4 at the ESRF is the first tunable undulator-based macromolecular crystallography beamline that can celebrate a decade of user service. During this time ID14-4 has not only been instrumental in the determination of the structures of biologically important molecules but has also contributed significantly to the development of various instruments, novel data collection schemes and pioneering radiation damage studies on biological samples. Here, the evolution of ID14-4 over the last decade is presented, and some of the major improvements that were carried out in order to maintain its status as one of the most productive macromolecular crystallography beamlines are highlighted.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe demand for access to macromolecular crystallography synchrotron beam time continues to increase. To meet this demand the ESRF has constructed a dual station beamline using a canted undulator system as the X-ray source. The first phase of the beamline to be constructed is ID23-1, a tunable MAD-capable station with a mini-focus X-ray beam.
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