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Synchro-Biology

Participants: Front row (left to right): Zbyszek Dauter, Wladek Minor, Laurie Betts, Patricia Elkins, Zbyszek Otwinowski, Andrew Prongay, Bryan Eger, Dan Thiel, Gong Vi Zhan. Middle row: Steve Smerdon, Marian Szebenyi, Art Weaver, Guy Vigers, Annette Henriksen, Gayle Schulte, Yu Hsiou, Bao Guang Zhao, Michele Kercher. Back row: Joe Jaeger, Ashley Deacon, Alan Friedman, Dave Rodgers, Joe Navaie, Steve Ealick, Steven Sheriff, Rob McKenna, Mark Rould.

A symposium entitled "New Frontiers in Synchrotron Radiation Research and Structural Biology" was held at Cornell University and the Cornell High-Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), Ithaca, NY, May 2-3, 1994.

Structural results were presented in the challenging area of large unit cells, especially viruses, by both S. Harrison and M. Rossmann. A. Yonath described collecting data on ribosome crystals on station F1 at CHESS, the most intense short wavelength beam in the world. E. Arnold also emphasized the use of short wavelengths in his studies on the AIDS virus reverse transcriptase. P. Sigler reported results on the G-protein family as part of a program of work on the structural basis of cellular regulation. S. Burley reported two crystal structures of eukaryotic transcription factors, from data measured on CHESS over a Christmas vacation! A. Karplus detailed high resolution studies on the enzymes trypanothione reductase and a cellulase, using the highly successful Princeton CCD detector device. This device, used on CHESS A1, was the star of the workshop organized by S. Ealick, J. Clardy, and W. Minor that followed the symposium. MAD developments were described by W. Hendrickson (structures determined using the NSLS Howard Hughes MAD beamline) and J. Smith (the structure solution of Fe glutamine amidotransferase).

On the second day, new sources, optics, and detectors were emphasized. J. Helliwell described one of the first UK MAD protein structures, determined in Manchester, from station 9.5 at Daresbury. He also described opportunities for macromolecular crystallography users at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France (see IUCr Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 2). D. Bilderback (Cornell) demonstrated, literally, the challenges facing the optics and beamline designer as sources as the user experiments become more ambitious. S. Gruner described the ways in which CCD's can be harnessed for SR macromolecular crystallography and showed how the duty cycle and DQE of image plates could be improved upon, thus ushering in a new burst of development and use of SR in the field.

Finally, S. Ealick, Director of MacCHESS, outlined the plans for future use and development of CHESS for macromolecular crystallography. Particular emphasis was given to high resolution and MAD data collection, and taking advantage of the high energy of the CHESS machine.

J. R. Helliwell

Workshop at CHESS

A workshop on "Synchrotron Radiation and Structural Biology: Measuring and Processing X-ray Crystallographic Data," May 3-6, organized by S. Ealick (Cornell) and W. Minor (Purdue), began with overview lectures presented by J. Helliwell on the use of synchrotron radiation in macromolecular crystallography and D. Bilderback on production of synchrotron radiation and X-ray optics. Other lectures were presented by the workshop instructors during the week covering all aspects of data collectionand data processing. The practical tutorials included flash-freezing, data processing exercises, and data collection and processing on crystals brought by workshop participants.

W. Minor