Short notes on X-ray Crystallography | BTF

 X-ray crystallography is the most powerful method to obtain a macromolecular structure.

X-ray crystallography is a tool used for determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal. The underlying principle is that the crystalline atoms cause a beam of X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a 3D picture of the density of electrons within the crystal.

X-Ray crystallography is a tool used to provide structural information about molecules. The technique was developed in 1912 by William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg (a father and son team who won the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the field), who built upon earlier work by Max von Laue.

X-ray crystallography remains the most robust method to determine protein structure at the atomic level. However, the bottlenecks of protein expression and purification often discourage further study. 

X-ray crystallography  is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a three-dimensional picture of the density of electrons within the crystal. From this electron density, the mean positions of the atoms in the crystal can be determined, as well as their chemical bonds, their crystallographic disorder, and various other information.

What is X ray diffraction simple definition?

: a scattering of X-rays by the atoms of a crystal that produces an interference effect so that the diffraction pattern gives information on the structure of the crystal or the identity of a crystalline substance.

X-ray crystallography is a technique used for determining the high-resolution, three-dimensional crystal structures of atom and molecules and has been fundamental in the development of many scientific fields. In its first decades of application, it is mainly used for determining the size of atoms, the lengths and types of chemical bonds, the atomic-scale differences among various materials, as well as the crystalline integrity, grain orientation, grain size, film thickness and interface roughness of the related materials, especially minerals and alloys.

 

Through X-ray crystallography, the chemical 

structure of thousands of organic, inorganic, 

organometallic, and biological compounds 

are determined every year. 

Bragg 

Spectrometer :

X-ray was the name given to the 

highly penetrating rays which 

emanated when high energy 

electrons struck a metal target. 

What is the principle of X ray crystallography?

X-ray crystallography is a tool used for determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal. The underlying principle is that the crystalline atoms cause a beam of X-rays to diffract into many specific direction.  

What is X ray crystallography used for?

X-ray crystallography is a tool used for determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal. The underlying principle is that the crystalline atoms cause a beam of X-rays to diffract into many specific direction. 

Why is Xray crystallography important?

X-ray crystallography enables the identification of the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal. ... The X-ray technique provides direct structural information on molecules at the atomic level and is recognized as a reliable structure determination method (Gaudencio and Pereira, 2015).

Where is Xray crystallography used?

Most scientists use x-ray Crystallography to solve the structures of protein and to determine functions of residues, interactions with substrates, and interactions with other proteins or nucleic acids. Proteins can be co - crystallized with these substrates, or they may be soaked into the crystal after crystallization. 

X-ray crystallography is also a routine technique to determine how a drug interacts with its target and what modifications could improve the interaction. Prakasham et al.76 have investigated diastase enzyme immobilized on nickel-impregnated silica paramagnetic NPs and they characterized them by FTIR and X-ray crystallography.

Why do we study crystallography?

Crystallography is the study of atomic and molecular structure. Crystallographers want to know how the atoms in a material are arranged in order to understand the relationship between atomic structure and properties of these materials. Crystallography began with the study of crystals, like quartz. 

 

Applications of X-ray crystallography

X-ray crystallography is used to analyze many different molecules and has been used in many famous projects in the fields of organic and inorganic chemistry. Early structures which were resolved using the technique were simple crystals, including quartz. As well as the analysis of organic molecules (proteins, vitamins, nucleic acids) and inorganic molecules and structures, X-ray crystallography has been used to develop novel materials in both material and life sciences.

Drug identification

Investigation of bones

Characterization of textile fibers and polymers

Integrated circuits

Short notes on X-ray Crystallography | BTF

Fermentation |Biotechnify |BTF

 

Fermentation : Definition & Introduction 

The chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving effervescence and the giving off of heat.

"the fermentation of organic matter by microorganisms in the gut"

Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen.

The science of fermentation is known as zymology.

In microorganisms, fermentation is the primary means of producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the degradation of organic nutrients anaerobically.[2] Humans have used fermentation to produce foodstuffs and beverages since the Neolithic age. For example, fermentation is used for preservation in a process that produces lactic acid found in such sour foods as pickled cucumbers, kombucha, kimchi, and yogurt, as well as for producing alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer. Fermentation also occurs within the gastrointestinal tracts of all animals, including humans.

The word "ferment" is derived from the Latin verb fervere, which means to boil.it is all about in etymology.

Fermentation, chemical process by which molecules such as glucose are broken down anaerobically. More broadly, fermentation is the foaming that occurs during the manufacture of wine and beer, a process at least 10,000 years old. The frothing results from the evolution of carbon dioxide gas, though this was not recognized until the 17th century.

How Does Fermentation Work?

Microorganisms survive using carbohydrates (sugars, such as glucose) for energy and fuel.

Organic chemicals like adenosine triphosphate (ATP) deliver that energy to every part of a cell when needed.

Microbes generate ATP using respiration. Aerobic respiration, which requires oxygen, is the most efficient way to do that. Aerobic respiration begins with glycolysis, where glucose is converted into pyruvic acid. When there’s enough oxygen present, aerobic respiration occurs.

Fermentation is similar to anaerobic respiration—the kind that takes place when there isn’t enough oxygen present. However, fermentation leads to the production of different organic molecules like lactic acid, which also leads to ATP, unlike respiration, which uses pyruvic acid.

Depending upon environmental conditions, individual cells and microbes have the ability to switch between the two different modes of energy production.

Organisms commonly obtain energy anaerobically through fermentation, but some systems use sulfate as the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain.

Fermentation is all down to the actions of tiny natural microbes, who colonize and cultivate everything from our digestive systems, to this colorful spring in Yellowstone seen in the picture above, to the food and drink we eat. 

Microbes use carbohydrates (sugars, such as glucose) for energy to fuel their survival. To make use of that energy, organic chemicals like adenosine triphosphate (ATP) deliver it when needed to every part of a cell.

Microbes - and our own body cells - use respiration to generate ATP. The most efficient way for them to do that is through a process known as aerobic respiration, which requires oxygen.

Aerobic respiration starts with glycolysis, where glucose is converted into pyruvic acid. Then, when there's enough oxygen around, aerobic respiration takes place. 

Fermentation is similar to the kind of respiration that takes place when there isn't enough oxygen present, namely anaerobic respiration. However unlike respiration, which uses pyruvic acid, fermentation leads to the production of different organic molecules like lactic acid, which also leads to ATP.  

What are three types of fermentation? 

Lactic acid fermentation

Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose and other six-carbon sugars (also, disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid in solution.

Yeast strains and bacteria convert starches or sugars into lactic acid, requiring no heat in preparation. These anaerobic chemical reactions, pyruvic acid uses nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide + hydrogen (NADH) to form lactic acid and NAD+. (Lactic acid fermentation also occurs in human muscle cells. During strenuous activity, muscles can expend adenosine triphosphate (ATP) faster than oxygen can be supplied to muscle cells, resulting in lactic acid buildup and sore muscles. In this scenario, glycolysis, which breaks down a glucose molecule into two pyruvate molecules and doesn’t use oxygen, produces ATP.) Lactic acid bacteria are vital to producing and preserving inexpensive, wholesome foods, which is especially important in feeding impoverished populations. This method makes sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, yogurt, and sourdough bread.

Ethanol fermentation/alcohol fermentation

Yeasts break pyruvate molecules—the output of the metabolism of glucose (C6H12O6) known as glycolysis—in starches or sugars down into alcohol and carbon dioxide molecules. Alcoholic fermentation produces wine and beer.

Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products.

Acetic acid fermentation

Starches and sugars from grains and fruit ferment into sour tasting vinegar and condiments. Examples include apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, and kombucha