MASSIF-1: a beamline dedicated to the fully automatic characterization and data collection from crystals of biological macromolecules

Abstract

MASSIF-1 (ID30A-1) is a new beamline dedicated to the completely automatic characterization and data collection from crystals of biological macromolecules.

Fully automatic macromolecular crystallography: the impact of MASSIF-1 on the optimum acquisition and quality of data

“…The energy is fixed at 12.8 keV, allowing de novo structure solution using single wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) protocols. [38,47] …”

“…[38] The beamline is one of the facilities that were funded as part of the ESRF phase I upgrade and was initially intended to be a purely screening hub for the other beamlines. [41] The scientific case for the beamline was built during the age of charge coupled device detectors, when the collection of a full data set would take between 20 min and 2 h. This severely restricted the number of data sets that could be collected in a typical allocation of 24 h of beamtime.…”

“…The first beamline of the Massively Automated Sample Selection Integrated Facility (MASSIF-1) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) has been developed to fill this need. [38] The beamline relies on new developments in the automation of sample mounting [39] coupled to a state-of-the-art synchrotron beamline to provide a stable environment for user-free experiments. At the heart of the beamline is a system that will locate, centre to the optimal diffraction volume, characterize and collect data, if possible, from multiple cryo-cooled crystals.…”

X-ray Microscopy Opportunities at ID 15B Beamline at the ESRF.

“…In this regard, development of diamond refractive optics is crucial [5][6][7]. The implementation of the lens-based beam transport concept will significantly simplify the layout of majority of new beamlines [8][9], opening novel opportunities for the material science research under extreme conditions [10][11].…”

“…In this regard, development of diamond refractive optics is crucial [5][6][7]. The implementation of the lens-based beam transport concept will significantly simplify the layout of majority of new beamlines [8][9], opening novel opportunities for the material science research under extreme conditions [10][11].The versatile beam conditioning properties of refractive optics enable to develop and implement new Xray coherence-related techniques including Fourier optics [12][13], coherent diffraction [14][15][16], phase contrast imaging [16][17][18][19], and interferometry [21][22][23][24]. Figure. 1.…”