Home › X-Ray Facility

X-Ray Crystallography Facility

RRID:SCR_017922

ru-h3r_2

R-Axis IV++ detector

 

Overview

The multi-user macromolecular x-ray crystallography facility (XRF) at the Kasha Laboratory Building (KLB) in the Institute of Molecular Biophysics (IMB) provides the instrument and expertise for collecting and processing x-ray diffraction data from macromolecular single crystals. It is one of the Core Facilities available to all the members of Structural Biology Program and members of FSU. XRF is located on the east side of the fourth floor of KLB (see the floor plan). More facility information is available at XRF Homepage. IMB X-Ray Facility also coordinates additional data collection at the National Synchrotron Light Source II at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY. XRF also offers Protein Crystal Screening Service to users.

Recognition of Core Facility/Core Director Contributions

IMB Core Research Facilities are an integral part of research conducted in the Institute and the resulting publications. However, because the Facility personnel are not part of the individual lab groups, and much of their work is either behind the scenes or early in a given project, it is easy to forget to give proper attribution for their contribution to the research. An acknowledgement is appropriate when a Facility and/or its Director is used for routine data collection, sample preparation, general advice, etc. When the Facility Director is involved at the level of method development, data analysis and interpretation, or other significant contribution to the project, (s)he should be included as a coauthor of the publication. Use X-Ray Facility’s RRID: SCR_017922.

Instruments and Accessories

ARI-CG-00

ARI Crystal Gryphon at FSU

XRF is equipped with  Rigaku RU-H3R x-ray generator, Osmic confocal mirror system,  Rigaku R-Axis IV++ IP detector and Oxford CryoStream cryocoolers. The facility has stereo-zoom microscopes, crystallization chambers maintained at variety of temperatures, and data processing hardware and software. The Facility Director also coordinates data collection work using FSU’s membership in National Synchrotron Light Source II at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.  The Facility has an Art Robbins Instruments Crystal Gryphon for protein crystallization set-up. 

Homebuilt Simple Robotic Imager (SRI)

Homebuilt Simple Robotic Imager

We offer automated scanning and storing of images of 96-reservoir-3-well or 96-reservoir-2-well ARI Intelliplate crystallization screens using our IMB-designed home-built Simple Robotic Imager (SRI). The robotic imager is housed in KLB 412 and is shown on the right collecting data on an ARI 102-0001-20 using a Linux computer. For ARI 96-reservoir-2 well plate (ARI# 102-000-20) it will take about 8 minutes to image all the 192 wells at about 90x magnification. For ARI 96-reservoir-3 well plate (either ARI# 102-000-13 or ARI# 102-000-03 ) it will take about 12 minutes to image all the 288 wells at about 120x magnification. As soon as the image collection is over it can be viewed using Linux feh image viewer program.

Rock Imager 01 at FSU

XRF has Rock Imager 01 manufactured by Formulatrix that is compatible with SBS, 96-well (ARI), and Linbro plates. Rock Imager allows the automated imaging of plates and works with Rock Maker software. Rock Imager 01 has a single light path and has both visible and ultra-violet (UV) light capabilities. It has bar code scanner so plates created using Rock Maker and Formulator 16 can be read and either manually or automatically imaged at regular intervals.

Formulator 16 @ FSU

We have also added Formulator 16 manufactured by Formulatrix which allows custom screen building and dispenses the screens using microfluidic technology. It can support 15+1 (water) ingredients and has a 96 nozzle dispensing the drops. Very low volumes of 200 nL to high volumes in few mL are achievable.

XRF User Fees

Starting in July 01, 2010,  XRF has instituted user-fees to defray part of the cost of running the Facility. Please see XRF Fee Structure for more information about fees. Current fees went into effect Jul 01, 2019.

XRF Boot Camp

Every August before the start of the Fall semester XRF runs a Boot Camp for new the graduate students. The three week Boot Camp is part of the Core Facilities Workshop. Please see XRF Boot Camp for this year’s schedule and syllabus.

Manuals and Protocols

The following is a short list of manuals, standard operating procedures, and protocols for instruments and equipment at the XRF

Updated: August 17, 2022.