Abstract
High-throughput data collection requires seamless interoperation of various hardware components. In addition, user-supplied descriptions of protein crystals must be directly linked with the diffraction data. Such linkages can be achieved efficiently with computer databases. A database that tracks production of the protein samples, crystallization, and diffraction from the resultant crystals serves as the glue that holds the entire gene-to-structure process together. This chapter first discusses data collection processes and hardware. It then illustrates how a well-constructed database ensures information flow through the steps of data acquisition. With such a database, synchrotron beamline measurements can be directly and efficiently integrated into the process of protein crystallographic structure determination. The approaches to data acquisition summarized in the chapter apply to both the de novo determination of protein structures and, as is routine in drug discovery, examination of protein-ligand cocrystals.