Low-angle x-ray diffraction.

Abstract

The first X-ray diffraction patterns that were recorded from biological membranes were published at about the same time (the early 1930s) as the first patterns from protein crystals. Growth in the two fields, however, has been very different. Protein crystallography has been an area of intensive research and represents one of the great successes of molecular biology. Membrane diffraction attracted relatively few workers until the late 1960s, when research in this area expanded rapidly. In 1973 the field was reviewed separately by Levine and Shipley and Worthington and in this article we will concentrate mainly, although not exclusively, on work since this time, with emphasis on those areas in which there has been either particular activity or success.KeywordsElectron Density DistributionRepeat PeriodPartial ThicknessElectron Density ProfilePurple MembraneThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.