Asymmetric Unit: Difference between revisions
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The '''asymmetric unit''' is the smallest portion of a crystal that, when duplicated and moved by crystal symmetry operations, can produce the unit cell of the crystal. The symmetry operations that are common for biological molecules are rotation, translation, and screw operations (which combine rotation and translation). Mirror symmetry planes occur rarely in crystals of biological molecules due to the presence of chiral centers, e.g. L or D amino acids. | The '''asymmetric unit''' is the smallest portion of a crystal that, when duplicated and moved by crystal symmetry operations, can produce the unit cell of the crystal. The symmetry operations that are common for biological molecules are rotation, translation, and screw operations (which combine rotation and translation). Mirror symmetry planes occur rarely in crystals of biological molecules due to the presence of chiral centers, e.g. L or D amino acids. | ||
The '''unit cell''' is the smallest portion of a crystal that, when duplicated and translated, can generate the entire crystal. You can '''see the unit cell''' by clicking on the word ''Jmol'' to the lower right of any molecular display in Jmol (which includes most interactive molecular displays in Proteopedia), and then on the menu that appears, Style, Unit Cell. | The '''unit cell''' is the smallest portion of a crystal that, when duplicated and translated, can generate the entire crystal. You can '''see the unit cell''' by clicking on the word ''Jmol'' to the lower right of any molecular display in Jmol (which includes most interactive molecular displays in Proteopedia), and then on the menu that appears, Style, Unit Cell. You can populate the unit cell from Jmol's menu with Symmetry, Reload {1 1 1}. | ||
==Websites== | ==Websites== | ||
