Accurate rocking-curve measurements on protein crystals grown in a homogeneous magnetic field of 2.4 T.

Differences in mosaicity between lysozyme crystals grown inside and outside a homogeneous magnetic field of 2.4 T and with and without agarose gel were investigated by X-ray diffraction rocking-curve measurements. High angular resolution was achieved using an Si(113) four-reflection Bartels monochromator. The results show that (i) all crystals were highly perfect, (ii) the mosaicities were clearly anisotropic and (iii) the mosaicities varied more strongly within each group of crystals (grown under identical conditions) than the average values across groups. In particular, the effect of the magnetic field on crystal mosaicity was found to be very small. Finally, the spatial distribution of mosaic blocks inside a protein crystal was visualized with a novel diffraction technique using a high spatial resolution two-dimensional CCD detector. Copyright 2004 International Union of Crystallography