Guinier peak analysis for visual and automated inspection of small-angle X-ray scattering data

The Guinier region in small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) defines the radius of gyration, Rg, and the forward scattering intensity, I(0). In Guinier peak analysis (GPA), the plot of qI(q) versus q2 transforms the Guinier region into a characteristic peak for visual and automated inspection of data. Deviations of the peak position from the theoretical position in dimensionless GPA plots can suggest parameter errors, problematic low-resolution data, some kinds of intermolecular interactions or elongated scatters. To facilitate automated analysis by GPA, the elongation ratio (ER), which is the ratio of the areas in the pair-distribution function P(r) after and before the P(r) maximum, was characterized; symmetric samples have ER values around 1, and samples with ER values greater than 5 tend to be outliers in GPA analysis. Use of GPA+ER can be a helpful addition to SAXS data analysis pipelines.