Analysis of Interhexameric Contact Regions in Two Dodecameric Hemocyanins at Subdohain Resolution by Combination of Data from Electron Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction and Amino-Acid Sequence Studies

Author(s):  
Felix de Haas ◽  
Jan F. L. van Breemen ◽  
Martha M. C. Bijlholt ◽  
Ernst F. J. van Bruggen

Hemocyanin is a biological macromolecule which occurs freely dissolved in the hemolymph of certain invertebrates. The function of this copper containing protein is the transport of oxygen through the organism. In fulfilling this task hemocyanin has developed a similar mechanism as hemoglobin in binding oxygen reversibly and cooperatively. The hemocyanin of arthropods consists of one or more hexamers of subunits with a molecular weight of approx. 75 000. Depending on the species 3-15 types of monomeric subunits occur, which differ in amino-acid composition and in their oxygen binding properties. Each type of subunit fulfills a specific role in the architecture of that hemocyanin. In nature arthropodan hemocyanin is found as a one-hexameric, two-hexameric (dodecameric), four-hexameric or eight-hexameric molecular assembly depending on the species. In this work we focus on the difference in organization of the hexamers in the dodecamer of two different species i.e. the tarantula Eurypelma californicum (a chelicerate) and the crab Cancer pagurus (a crustacean). Eurypelma hemocyanin is made from 7 different subunits called a - g, whereas Cancer hemocyanin consists of 3 subunit types termed α, β, and γ .By image analysis of electron micrographs of the two-hexameric half hemocyanin molecules from Eurypelma and the two-hexameric whole hemocyanin molecules from Cancer, computer averaged projections of these dodecamers were obtained as shown in fig. 1. They differ clearly in their interhexameric contacts. To analyse this difference in more detail these projections were used as a reference in a simulation procedure.

1975 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
pp. 619-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.A. Kuiper ◽  
W. Gaastra ◽  
J.J. Beintema ◽  
E.F.J. van Bruggen ◽  
A.M.H. Schepman ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Y. H. Liu

Ordered Ni3Fe crystals possess a LI2 type superlattice similar to the Cu3Au structure. The difference in slip behavior of the superlattice as compared with that of a disordered phase has been well established. Cottrell first postulated that the increase in resistance for slip in the superlattice structure is attributed to the presence of antiphase domain boundaries. Following Cottrell's domain hardening mechanism, numerous workers have proposed other refined models also involving the presence of domain boundaries. Using the anomalous X-ray diffraction technique, Davies and Stoloff have shown that the hardness of the Ni3Fe superlattice varies with the domain size. So far, no direct observation of antiphase domain boundaries in Ni3Fe has been reported. Because the atomic scattering factors of the elements in NijFe are so close, the superlattice reflections are not easily detected. Furthermore, the domain configurations in NioFe are thought to be independent of the crystallographic orientations.


1998 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloš Tichý ◽  
Luděk Ridvan ◽  
Miloš Buděšínský ◽  
Jiří Závada ◽  
Jaroslav Podlaha ◽  
...  

The axially chiral bis(α-amino acid)s cis-2 and trans-2 as possible building blocks for polymeric structures of novel type of helicity were prepared. Their configuration has been determined by NMR spectroscopy and, in the case of the trans-isomer, confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Analogous pair of stereoisomeric diacids cis-3 and trans-3, devoid of the amino groups, was also prepared and their configuration assigned. The observed differences in the NMR spectra of cis- and trans-isomers of 2 and 3 are discussed from the viewpoint of their different symmetry properties.


2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro M. Acuña ◽  
Diego G. Lamas ◽  
Rodolfo O. Fuentes ◽  
Ismael O. Fábregas ◽  
Márcia C. A. Fantini ◽  
...  

The local atomic structures around the Zr atom of pure (undoped) ZrO2nanopowders with different average crystallite sizes, ranging from 7 to 40 nm, have been investigated. The nanopowders were synthesized by different wet-chemical routes, but all exhibit the high-temperature tetragonal phase stabilized at room temperature, as established by synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) technique was applied to analyze the local structure around the Zr atoms. Several authors have studied this system using the EXAFS technique without obtaining a good agreement between crystallographic and EXAFS data. In this work, it is shown that the local structure of ZrO2nanopowders can be described by a model consisting of two oxygen subshells (4 + 4 atoms) with different Zr—O distances, in agreement with those independently determined by X-ray diffraction. However, the EXAFS study shows that the second oxygen subshell exhibits a Debye–Waller (DW) parameter much higher than that of the first oxygen subshell, a result that cannot be explained by the crystallographic model accepted for the tetragonal phase of zirconia-based materials. However, as proposed by other authors, the difference in the DW parameters between the two oxygen subshells around the Zr atoms can be explained by the existence of oxygen displacements perpendicular to thezdirection; these mainly affect the second oxygen subshell because of the directional character of the EXAFS DW parameter, in contradiction to the crystallographic value. It is also established that this model is similar to another model having three oxygen subshells, with a 4 + 2 + 2 distribution of atoms, with only one DW parameter for all oxygen subshells. Both models are in good agreement with the crystal structure determined by X-ray diffraction experiments.


1979 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 333-339
Author(s):  
S. K. Gupta ◽  
B. D. Cullity

Since the measurement of residual stress by X-ray diffraction techniques is dependent on the difference in angle of a diffraction peak maximum when the sample is examined consecutively with its surface at two different angles to the diffracting planes, it is important that these diffraction angles be obtained precisely, preferably with an accuracy of ± 0.01 deg. 2θ. Similar accuracy is desired in precise lattice parameter determination. In such measurements, it is imperative that the diffractometer be well-aligned. It is in the context of diffractometer alignment with the aid of a silicon powder standard free of residual stress that the diffraction peak analysis techniques described here have been developed, preparatory to residual stress determinations.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Sytle Antao

Synchrotron high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (HRPXRD) and Rietveld structure refinements were used to examine the crystal structure of single phases and intergrowths (either two or three phases) in 13 samples of the helvine-group minerals, (Zn,Fe,Mn)8[Be6Si6O24]S2. The helvine structure was refined in the cubic space group P4¯3n. For the intergrowths, simultaneous refinements were carried out for each phase. The structural parameters for each phase in an intergrowth are only slightly different from each other. Each phase in an intergrowth has well-defined unit-cell and structural parameters that are significantly different from the three endmembers and these do not represent exsolution or immiscibility gaps in the ternary solid-solution series. The reason for the intergrowths in the helvine-group minerals is not clear considering the similar radii, identical charge, and diffusion among the interstitial M cations (Zn2+, Fe2+, and Mn2+) that are characteristic of elongated tetrahedral coordination. The difference between the radii of Zn2+ and Mn2+ cations is 10%. Depending on the availability of the M cations, intergrowths may occur as the temperature, pressure, fugacity fS2, and fluid composition change on crystallization. The Be–Si atoms are fully ordered. The Be–O and Si–O distances are nearly constant. Several structural parameters (Be–O–Si bridging angle, M–O, M–S, average <M–O/S>[4] distances, and TO4 rotational angles) vary linearly with the a unit-cell parameter across the series because of the size of the M cation.


IUCrJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsunetomo Yamada ◽  
Hiroyuki Takakura ◽  
Holger Euchner ◽  
Cesar Pay Gómez ◽  
Alexei Bosak ◽  
...  

The detailed atomic structure of the binary icosahedral (i) ScZn7.33quasicrystal has been investigated by means of high-resolution synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction and absolute scale measurements of diffuse scattering. The average atomic structure has been solved using the measured Bragg intensity data based on a six-dimensional model that is isostructural to the i-YbCd5.7one. The structure is described with a quasiperiodic packing of large Tsai-type rhombic triacontahedron clusters and double Friauf polyhedra (DFP), both resulting from a close-packing of a large (Sc) and a small (Zn) atom. The difference in chemical composition between i-ScZn7.33and i-YbCd5.7was found to lie in the icosahedron shell and the DFP where in i-ScZn7.33chemical disorder occurs on the large atom sites, which induces a significant distortion to the structure units. The intensity in reciprocal space displays a substantial amount of diffuse scattering with anisotropic distribution, located around the strong Bragg peaks, that can be fully interpreted as resulting from phason fluctuations, with a ratio of the phason elastic constantsK2/K1= −0.53,i.e.close to a threefold instability limit. This induces a relatively large perpendicular (or phason) Debye–Waller factor, which explains the vanishing of `high-Qperp' reflections.


1995 ◽  
Vol 417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Fujiwara ◽  
Toshihiro Ii ◽  
Isamu Shimizu

AbstractHigh-quality (ZnS)n(ZnSe)12n and (ZnSe)n(ZnTe)11n (n=1∼4) crystals were grown at a low temperature of 200°C by hydrogen radical-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. From satellite peaks in x-ray diffraction spectra, these periodic structure crystals were confirmed to be grown coherently on substrates, in spite of large lattice mismatches between the grown layers and the substrates (͛=4∼7%). In photoluminescence (PL) spectra of these films, strong band-edge emissions were predominantly observed, resulting from a suppression of deep-level emissions. We found that the PL peak energy of (ZnSe)n(ZnTe)11n shifts systematically to lower energy by 200 meV with changes in the number of ZnSe layers (n), while relatively small shift of 13 meV was observed in (ZnS)n(ZnSe)12n. These discrepancy can be attributed to the difference of band-lineups or chemical natures of constituent atoms in these crystals.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Shuaibu Musa ◽  
S O. Idris ◽  
A D. Onu

The resulted complexes produced between Fe (III) and Co (II) with biological molecules like amino acids play an important role in human life. They can be used as bioactive compounds as well as in industries. Fe (III) and Co (II) complexes are synthesized with Alanine amino acid. The complexes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, magnetic suscetivility, elemental analysis (AAS), molar conductance, melting point, infrared and uv-visible spectrophotometry analyses. The elemental analyses were used to determine the chelation ratio, 1:3(metal: ligands) for iron (III) Alanine and 1:2 ratio for cobalt (II) Alanine. The molar conductivity of the complexes show that the complexes are not electrolytic in nature. The x-ray data suggest monoclinic crystal system for all the complexes with the exception of Co-alanine, which is hexagonal. The magnetic susceptivility and electronic spectra suggest the complexes are high spin with octahedral geometry.The complexes show enhance activity in comparable to the amino acid.  


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