X-ray absorption spectroscopy at a protein crystallography facility: the Canadian Light Source beamline 08B1-1

It is now possible to perform X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) on metalloprotein crystals at the Canadian Macromolecular Crystallography Facility bend magnet (CMCF-BM) beamline (08B1-1) at the Canadian Light Source. The recent addition of a four-element fluorescence detector allows users to acquire data suitable for X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine-structure based studies by monitoring fluorescence. CMCF beamline users who wish to supplement their diffraction data with XAS can do so with virtually no additional sample preparation. XAS data collection is integrated with the established Mx Data Collector software package used to collect diffraction data. Mainstream XAS data-processing software packages are available for the users; assistance with data processing and interpretation by staff is also available upon request.