Abstract
WE have examined by X-ray methods crystals of the protein material prepared by F. C. Bawden and N. W. Pirie1 from tomato plants suffering from bushy stunt disease. The crystals were in the form of isotropic rhombic dodecahedra of average diameter of only 0·01 mm. Consequently, no attempt was made to take single crystal photographs. Instead, powder photographs were taken of a suspension of the crystals in their mother liquor. With a monochromatic beam of copper Kα radiation at 40 cm. plate distance and long exposure, two lines were observed of spacings 279 A. and 160 A. respectively. The ratio of these spacings is?3: 1, corresponding to the (110) and (112) spacings of a body-centred cubic lattice of side 394 A. This would correspond to a particle diameter of 340 A. or a radius of 17mμ. Although the (200) reflection and higher order reflections are not observed, the attribution of a body-centred cell is probable as it accords with the dodecahedral habit by Fedorov's law.
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Bawden, F. C., and Pirie, N. W., Brit. J. Exp. Path., 19, 251 (1938).
McFarlane, A. S., and Kekwick, R. A., Biochem. J., 32, 1607 (1938).
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BERNAL, J., FANKUCHEN, I. & RILEY, D. Structure of the Crystals of Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus Preparations. Nature 142, 1075 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1421075a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1421075a0
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