Automatic Weissenberg data collection system for time-resolved protein crystallography

A totally new type of fully automatic Weissenberg data-collection system ca lled "Galaxy" was developed and was installed at the Photon Factory. This a utomatic data collection system consists of a rotated-inclined focusing mon ochromator, a screenless Weissenberg type camera, an image reader, an erase r, a cassette transportation mechanism, a control console and a safety and high-speed computer network system linking a control console, data processi ng computers and data servers. The special characteristics of this system a re a Weissenberg camera with a fully cylindrical cassette which can be rota ted to exchange a frame, a maximum number of 36 images to be recorded in an IP cassette, and a very high speed IP reader with five reading heads. Sinc e the frame exchange time is only a few seconds, this system is applicable for time-resolved protein crystallography at seconds or minutes of time-sca le. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.