CRYOCRYSTALLOGRAPHY OF VIRUSES. Brenda R.S. Temple, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, CB 7260, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7260

Cryocrystallographic studies of macromolecules were almost routine in some laboratories before the first virus crystal was successfully flashcooled. The extension of low-temperature techniques from conventional macromolecular crystals to virus crystals was long sought but proved intractable for several years. A reduction in radiation damage and an extended crystal lifetime were advantages of low-temperature data collection, however, that provided strong motivation for continued efforts to flash-cool virus crystals. Recently, there have been several successes with cryocrystallographic studies of virus crystals. These successful efforts at flash-cooling virus crystals will be discussed in this talk.