Rigaku Leads in Protein Structure Productivity Based on Analysis of Protein Data Bank Submissions

Rigaku presents the results of a statistical analysis, of X-ray crystal structures submitted to the Protein Data Bank (www.pdb.org/) (PDB), detailed in the new Rigaku Newsletter (Vol. 4, No. 4, Winter 2007). Data show that structures solved with Rigaku home laboratory X-ray generators comprised 17% of all submitted structures for 2005, the latest year of complete data.

Of structures solved with home lab sources that year, 89% were done using Rigaku equipment. The data conclusively demonstrate that Rigaku structural biology customers are collectively the most productive in the home lab market.

A recent analysis of the PDB has shown that Rigaku generators and detectors provided the highest level of productivity for structural biologists. Defined as the share (percentage) of PDB X-ray structures per period, structure production is a key basis for comparison using published data.

Submissions were examined over the ten year period spanning from 1996 through 2005, the most recent year where essentially all submitted structures had been released into the public domain. Of the 5652 X-ray structure deposits for 2005, 4304 (76%) were from data collected at beamlines. Of these beamline data, 738 (13%) were from the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory alone. That year, approximately 1085 (19%) of the submitted structures were from data collected on home laboratory sources.

More than 89% of these home laboratories employed Rigaku X-ray generators, solving a total of 972 structures. Since 1996, home laboratory productivity share for Rigaku has been steadily increasing. Rigaku generator share increased from 78% in 1996 to 89% in 2005. More impressive are gains made by Rigaku detectors.

In 1996, 38% of all home lab structures were collected on Rigaku detectors. By 2005, this metric had increased to about 66%. So whether the consideration is based on sources or detectors, Rigaku structural biology customers are collectively the most productive in the world by a wide margin.