Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium

The Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium (ACDC) BAG aims at supporting several macromolecular structural biology groups across Austria (in total 20 research groups at 9 institutions in 4 cities). We employ mainly the technique of X-ray crystallography to characterize macromolecular biological complexes, but also solution scattering approaches are frequently used to characterize dynamic assemblies. Approval of this BAG will be essential for researchers in all our groups to carry out their structural studies on various health-related and basic research-oriented topics, which are targeted at characterizing large molecular assemblies or proteins currently under-represented in the PDB, including membrane proteins. Corresponding high-resolution diffraction data are only obtainable through the use of synchrotron radiation sources. Thus regular synchrotron access is highly desirable to maintain a competitive advantage in our individual research fields.

奥地利晶体衍射联盟（Austrian Crystallographic Diffraction Consortium，ACDC）光束分配组（Beam Allocation Group，BAG）旨在为奥地利境内的大分子结构生物学研究团队提供支持，该团队网络总计包含20个研究组，分布于4座城市的9所科研机构内。本团队主要采用X射线晶体学技术对大分子生物复合物开展结构表征工作，同时也常借助溶液散射方法解析动态分子组装体的结构。该光束分配组的获批，对于所有团队的科研人员开展各类与健康相关及基础研究导向的结构生物学研究至关重要——此类研究的目标是解析目前在蛋白质数据库（Protein Data Bank，PDB）中收录占比偏低的大型分子组装体或蛋白质（包括膜蛋白）的结构。对应的高分辨率衍射数据仅可通过同步辐射光源获取，因此稳定获取同步辐射束流使用权限，对于各研究团队在各自研究领域保持竞争优势极为必要。