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Felix, Although I have passed through George's lab at UCSD several times, I have not seen that crystal, but it should be pointed out that George's interests did extend beyond photosynthesis. Some of us older folks remember George's contributions to protein crystal growth, both theoretical and experimental (see Z. Kam, H.B. Shore, and G. Feher, J. Mol. Biol. 123, 539, 1978 or his contribution in Methods in Enzymology, volume 114). So it would not be surprising to find a humungous crystal in his lab; he was interested in the mechanism(s) of crystal growth cessation, which may have led his group to see how big a crystal they could grow. Unfortunately, parts of his lab were often dark when I was visiting due to his photosynthesis experiments. Perhaps Jim Allen or former people from the Kraut and Xuong labs would know. Cheers, Michael **************************************************************** R. Michael Garavito, Ph.D. Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 603 Wilson Rd., Rm. 513 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824-1319 Office: (517) 355-9724 Lab: (517) 353-9125 FAX: (517) 353-9334 Email: [log in to unmask] **************************************************************** On Oct 25, 2013, at 11:13 AM, Felix Frolow wrote: > I guess that this crystal was never tested with any X-ray source. After all George is a physicist who study photosynthesis processes by spectroscopic methods. > However (unrelated but connected) I have collected once a data set from a see urchin needle which was 1 cm long, about 3 mm across (protein mass was dissolved), it was a single crystal > despite a complicated and beautiful architecture, and mosaicity was about 0.5 deg on a Rigaku AFC5 diffractometer (mounted on a rotating anode with Ni filter. > So I would not bet on the large crystal - big mosaicity formula. > > FF > > This remarkable hollow > Dr Felix Frolow > Professor of Structural Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology > Tel Aviv University 69978, Israel > > Acta Crystallographica F, co-editor > > e-mail: [log in to unmask] > Tel: ++972-3640-8723 > Fax: ++972-3640-9407 > Cellular: 0547 459 608 > > On Oct 25, 2013, at 16:54 , Derek Logan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Hi Felix, >> >> What was the mosaicity of this crystal? The absorption correction must have been challenging too... >> >> Derek >> >> On 25 Oct 2013, at 13:23, Felix Frolow <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >>> Well if we start recalling rumours, I have heard that in UC San Diego in the laboratory of George Feher there was (is) a tetragonal hen egg white lysozyme crystal >>> which weighted between 0.5 - 1.0 kg. >>> It grew suspend on a mountain boots shoelace of the read colour. >>> I have never visited George laboratory, but maybe among the society there are some who can shed some light on that…. >>> FF >>> Dr Felix Frolow >>> Professor of Structural Biology and Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology >>> Tel Aviv University 69978, Israel >>> >>> Acta Crystallographica F, co-editor >>> >>> e-mail: [log in to unmask] >>> Tel: ++972-3640-8723 >>> Fax: ++972-3640-9407 >>> Cellular: 0547 459 608 >>> >>> On Oct 25, 2013, at 12:18 , Boaz Shaanan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi, Referring to the Hb crystal that Bill Scott saw in the MRC crystal growing room (by now "tho old one" I guess), is that the one that was sitting in the largest part of the Pasteur pipette? I recall this one and I keep telling my students about it when they ask about crystal size limits. >>>> Cheers, Boaz >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -------- הודעה מקורית -------- >>>> מאת: [log in to unmask] >>>> תאריך: >>>> אל: [log in to unmask] >>>> נושא: Re: [ccp4bb] largest protein crystal ever grown? >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi Derek, >>>> >>>> That brings back memories. I am pretty certain that is the myoglobin crystal that was already on Benno's shelf at Brookhaven when I went there in 1980 to collect my oxymyoglobin neutron data. It would the metmyoglobin crystal Benno got the early neutron data from. He just kept it on the shelf because there was, of course, no degradation in the beam and a crystal is a pretty stable way to store a protein. Whenever he wanted more data he took it off the shelf and put it back on the beamline. If Benno is reading this bulletin board I am sure he could tell us more. >>>> >>>> Simon >>>> >>>> Simon E.V. Phillips >>>> Director, Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH) >>>> Rutherford Appleton Laboratory >>>> Harwell Oxford >>>> Didcot >>>> Oxon OX11 0FA >>>> United Kingdom >>>> Email: [log in to unmask] >>>> Direct email: [log in to unmask] >>>> Tel: +44 (0)1235 567701 (direct) >>>> +44 (0)1235 567700 (sec) >>>> +44 (0)7884 436011 (mobile) >>>> www: www.rc-harwell.ac.uk >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Derek Logan >>>> Sent: 24 October 2013 19:08 >>>> To: ccp4bb >>>> Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] largest protein crystal ever grown? >>>> >>>> Hi, >>>> >>>> Last spring I visited the Protein Crystallography Station at Los Alamos. On a shelf, in a capillary in a serious exhibition-quality glass dome, was a crystal of myoglobin some 50 mm**3, if I remember correctly. I was told it had been made by Benno Schoenborn some decades earlier and had been exposed to most of the neutron sources in the world (radiation damage - forget about it!) Paul Langan or Zoë Fisher can correct me if I've exaggerated the size or age. >>>> >>>> Anyway, as I already lost the record several times over for having seen the biggest protein crystal ever, I can share with you the surprise and delight of having to centre the crystals using a telescope mounted on a tripod on the other side of the room. Apparently the magnification on the microscope on the diffractometer (visible in this photo, and maybe the giant crystal too? http://www.lanl.gov/_assets/php/flickrImage.php?photo_id=5033219363&secret=291f519124) was too high, so any "neutron-size" crystals would filled the whole field of view even if they were not well-centered. >>>> >>>> FWIW, my crystals (somewhat optimistically 0.4 mm**3) didn't diffract neutrons even after a 24h exposure :-) >>>> >>>> Derek >>>> ________________________________________________________________________ >>>> Derek Logan tel: +46 46 222 1443 >>>> Associate Professor mob: +46 76 8585 707 >>>> Dept. of Biochemistry and Structural Biology www.cmps.lu.se >>>> Centre for Molecular Protein Science www.maxlab.lu.se/node/307 >>>> Lund University, Box 124, 221 00 Lund, Sweden >>>> >>>> On 24 Oct 2013, at 18:35, Victor Lamzin <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >>>> >>>> > Also following on from John's comment - back to the times of my PhD I was repeatedly growing crystals of bacterial formate dehydrogenase (80 kDa) of a size about 7x1.5x1 mm. I thought that was quite normal and did not even think of making a photo of 'just a protein crystal'. >>>> > >>>> > Victor >>>> This email and any attachments may contain confidential, copyright and or privileged material, and are for the use of the intended addressee only. If you are not the intended addressee or an authorized recipient of the addressee, please notify us of receipt by returning the e-mail and do not use, copy, retain, distribute or disclose the information in or attached to this email. >>>> >>>> Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Research Complex at Harwell. >>>> >>>> There is no guarantee that this email or any attachments are free from viruses and we cannot accept liability for any damage which you may sustain as a result of software viruses which may be transmitted in or with the message. >>>> >>>> We use an electronic filing system. Please send electronic versions of documents, unless paper is specifically requested. >>>> >>>> This email may have a protective marking, for an explanation, please see: >>>> http://www.mrc.ac.uk/About/informationandstandards/documentmarking/index.htm. >>> >> >