Plate adapter for in-situ X-ray screening
Screen your crystals directly in crystallization plates with the Rigaku PlateMate
The Rigaku PlateMate is an adapter that holds MRC two-well and Greiner low-profile crystallization plate types and that can be set up on Rigaku 4-circle AFC11 partial chi goniometers. The plate slides on linear rails and the position is controlled both horizontally and vertically by fine adjustment knobs so crystals in any of the 96 wells in the plate can be precisely centered in the X-ray beam.
The PlateMate is an essential tool for easily and rapidly identifying protein crystals versus salt and detergent crystals directly in the plate, and for screening crystals which deteriorate as soon as they are taken out of their crystallization environment.
Diffraction image from a lysozyme crystal (0.15 mm x 0.15 mm x 0.1 mm) grown in a 96-well Greiner low-profile plate. A 10 second exposure time was used on a Rigaku MicroMax-007 HF microfocus rotating anode generator with the Saturn 944 HG CCD detector positioned 70 mm from the sample.
Read the open access Journal of Applied Crystallography article: A manual low-cost protein-crystallization plate jig for in situ diffraction in the home laboratory
Features
- Allows for easy and rapid identification of protein crystals versus salt and detergent crystals directly in the plate.
- Enables screening of crystals which deteriorate as soon as they are taken out of their crystallization environment
- Fits MRC two-well and Greiner low-profile plate types.
- Simple, light and non-cumbersome design.
- Can be set up on a 4-circle goniometer within seconds without training. It is almost as easy to use as a regular goniometer head.
- Includes two linear rails for horizontal and vertical plate movement to allow for centering on any well.
- Replaceable scales, with graduations fitting well spacing for each plate type, to facilitate coarse well positioning.
- Fine plate positioning is achieved using adjustment knobs so that even small crystals can be precisely centered into the beam.
The Rigaku PlateMate is a great tool for screening crystals in crystallization plates thus enabling you to easily answer the questions Is it a protein crystal or a salt crystal? and How far does my crystal diffract at room temperature? In addition, the Rigaku PlateMate enables you to collect complete—or nearly complete—data sets for many protein crystals without ever removing the crystal from the crystallization drop. Thus, the PlateMate proves invaluable for collecting room temperature data sets without the risky step of harvesting and capillary mounting. It also provides an important time gain in fragment screening projects and in screening for bound compounds in protein active sites.
