Observation of lattice defect creation in protein crystals with laser scattering tomography

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Laser scattering tomography (LST) has been applied to observe lattice defects in protein crystals for the first time. Hen-egg white lysozyme crystal of orthorhombic modification was grown by a batch method using heterogeneous crystallization method. The crystal sized employed were 1-2 mm in thickness and 5-7 mm in length. The following conclusions were obtained : (1) LST figures were observed from the crystal portions where no defect was detectable with optical microscopy. (2) The polarization dependence proved that both bulk-type and point defect-type defects are present. The bulk-type LST patterns were often parallel to the crystal edges, and assumed to correspond to inclusions. (3) The polarization dependence could differentiate the point-defect type and bulk defect type. From these results, we conclude that LST is effective to macroscopically characterize the protein crystals.