Dependence of Convection Flow Rates on Gravity around Growing Hen Egg-White Lysozyme Crystals

Abstract

Convection flows induced by formation of solute depletion zone around growing protein crystals are visualized to confirm whether growth of crystals at a ceiling position (top wall of a growth container) can really suppress this convection flow effectively or not. First, we observed the convection flows around the crystal at the ceiling position at 1.0 G. Second, parabolic flight experiments revealed that flow rates of polystyrene particles (as marker particles, 500 nm in diameter) around a crystal at the ceiling position did not indicate zero at high-gravity conditions, and the particles almost stop at zero gravity. Thus, stable microgravity experiments are still indispensable to attain complete convection-free conditions.