Postdoctoral position available in the School of Biological Sciences,
University of Liverpool
DE NOVO PHASING USING LONG X-RAY WAVELENGTHS
Salary: £30,594 pa
Duration: 1 year initially
Closing Date: 20 January 2009
Start date: Immediately available
Sulphur anomalous scattering is a large and relatively untapped
resource for use in de novo protein structure determination but
routine use of this ‘long wavelength’ phasing method is far from
established. We are working among others with the University of
Georgia (USA) and SER-CAT at the Advanced Photon Source in Chicago to
develop long wavelength phasing as a method for routine data
collection, processing and structure determination at synchrotron
radiation beamlines. The objective is to make long wavelength SAD
phasing no more difficult to achieve for structural biologists than
Se MAD, which is already well established as a routine high-
throughput approach for structure determination.
The project is a collaboration between scientists (Professor Samar
Hasnain and Dr Richard Strange) in the Molecular Biophysics Group at
the School of Biological Sciences. The experimental programme, from
e.g. crystal optimisation to selection of wavelength, absorption
corrections to structure solution using multiple crystals, will be
performed at the new UK Synchrotron Source (Diamond) where the
Science and Technology Facilities Council has recently announced
funding for a dedicated beamline for long wavelength phasing as one
of the Phase III beamlines, at APS, Argonne, USA and SPring-8 in Japan.
For additional information on the group’s activities, please visit
www.biophysics.liv.ac.uk.
Informal enquiries to Professor S Hasnain,
email:s.s.hasn...@liv.ac.uk or
Dr. R. Strange, email: r.stra...@liv.ac.uk
Submitting Applications
Applications may be submitted by e-mail to j...@liv.ac.uk or by post
or in person to: The Director of Human Resources (Recruitment), The
University of Liverpool, Foundation Building, 765 Brownlow Hill,
Liverpool L69 7ZX
Application Procedure
Applications should comprise:
*A completed applicant information form
* A copy of your full curriculum vitae
*A statement indicating the reasons for applying for this post and
how your training and experience is relevant.
References
• Structure determination of a 16.8kDa copper protein at 2.1Å
resolution using anomalous
scattering data with direct Methods, I. Harvey, Q. Hao, E. Duke, J.
Ingledew and S. S. Hasnain,
Acta. Crystallogr. D: Biological Crystallography 54, 629-635 (1998)
• Is single wavelength anamolous scattering sufficient for solving
phases? A comparison of different
methods for a 2.1Å structure solution. Y. Liu, I. Harvey, Y. Gu., C.
Zhang, Y. Z. He, H. F. Fan, S.
S. Hasnain, Q. Hao Acta. Cryst.D., 55,1620-1622 (1999).
• Cianci et. al. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 12, 455-466
