- phenixbb - phenix-online.org

Is there a way to search the phenixbb mailing list archive?
by Murpholino Peligro 11 May '20

11 May '20

With the ccp4bb at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin I can search for a term in the archive. Is there something similar in the phenixbb? Thanks Or... is there a way to wget all the gz files?

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Online Course on Neutron Scattering Applications in Structural Biology
by Meilleur, Flora 11 May '20

11 May '20

ORNL Online Course on Neutron Scattering Applications in Structural Biology (https://conference.sns.gov/event/217/) June 1 - June 5, 2020 2:00 pm - 5:30 pm EST Registration (free) is now open and will close May 17, 2020. This online course is designed for graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and faculty with knowledge of structure and function of biological macromolecules but with limited to no experience with neutron sciences. The course will cover the basics of deuterium labeling, small angle neutron scattering, neutron reflectometry, neutron spectroscopy, neutron imaging and neutron crystallography. Instrumentation, sample preparation, data collection and processing will be introduced for each neutron technique.

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Boost 1.70 update for cctbx
by Billy Poon 08 May '20

08 May '20

Hi everyone, There is currently a pull request for cctbx that will update Boost to 1.70 ( https://github.com/cctbx/cctbx_project/pull/409). The update enables support for Python 3.7 and 3.8. The plan is to merge this next Friday, May 8, at 3 pm Pacific. After merging, developers should delete the build/lib/*boost* files and build/boost directory so that any remnants of the old Boost are removed and then rebuild. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! -- Billy K. Poon Research Scientist, Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 1 Cyclotron Road, M/S 33R0345 Berkeley, CA 94720 Tel: (510) 486-5709 Fax: (510) 486-5909 Web: https://phenix-online.org

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Phenix installation
by Sam Tang 06 May '20

06 May '20

Hi I am installing Phenix on a Fedora 30 station. It complains line 15: /usr/bin/python: No such file or directory. I have checked that there is python3.7.3 pre-loaded. So did I miss anything obvious...? Brs Sam

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Ligand refinement - geometry does not fit density
by Schulz, Eike-Christian 04 May '20

04 May '20

Dear all, I am refining a structure with a simple ligand in phenix 1.14. The ligand is present in 2 conformations at approx. equal occupancy. Refinement of the 2 conformations runs smoothly, but 2 problems occur 1. One of the ligand atoms is placed out of the electron density after refinement. The geometry file (via elbow) is present during refinement. The atom is not in an extreme position or clashes with anything else. 2. After refinement the ligand conformation cannot be changed in coot, although I import the cif dictionary. Any advise ? Best, Eike

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Phenix 1.18 RSR runtime
by Hannah Bridges 01 May '20

01 May '20

Dear Phenix developers, We have updated to phenix version 1.18-3845-000 and found that realspace refinement (5 cycles) with minimization global, local grid search and ADP is taking about 36 hours, compared to ~ 1hr in versions 1.17 and 1.16. The slow step is the local grid search which is taking >6 hours each cycle. We are very glad for the option to run the job detached, but I wondered if this sort of timing was expected for this version? Best wishes Hannah -- Dr Hannah Bridges Investigator Scientist MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit The Keith Peters Building University of Cambridge Cambridge Biomedical Campus Hills Road Cambridge CB2 0XY United Kingdom Telephone : 01223 252812

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off-topic; suggestions for 96head liquid handler
by Georg Mlynek 30 Apr '20

30 Apr '20

Dear Scientific community, we have lend over Viaflow96 liquid handler (used for pipetting 35-50 uL in 96 well crystallization plates) to our Covid -19 Diagnostics Initiative. As we believe that this story will be ongoing for some longer time I am looking for a new 96 head liquid handler. We are happy with the Viaflow and have two heads 10-300 uL; 0.5-12.5 uL. However one tip box (96 tips for the 10-300 uL) is about 4 €. This compares to ~1 € for the refilling racks we use for our single channel pipettes (It is said that boxes have to be more rigid, because of pressure during tip loading). Therefore if you have a 96 head liquid handler for volumes of 20-60 uL where cheap tips can be used (automation not necessary) please write me. Many thanks in advance, best regards, Georg.

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Computational Crystallography Newsletter (CCN) release and submissions
by Nigel Moriarty 28 Apr '20

28 Apr '20

Folks Recent world events have affected many things including the timely release of the CCN. Please consider this the Shelter-In-Place edition. Many of you will be involved in SARS-CoV-2 research and the CCN for July 2020 can be a vehicle for publishing the more community interest details. The deadline for submissions is 1 JUN 2020. The Computational Crystallography Newsletter (CCN) is an electronic newsletter for structural biologists, and is published online every 6 months. Feature articles, meeting announcements and reports can be submitted to me at any time for consideration. Submission of text by email or word-processing files using the CCN templates is requested. Past newsletters and a Microsoft Word template are available at www.phenix-online.org/newsletter. Cheers Nigel --- Nigel W. Moriarty Building 33R0349, Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, CA 94720-8235 Phone : 510-486-5709 Email : NWMoriarty(a)LBL.gov Fax : 510-486-5909 Web : CCI.LBL.gov

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Open postdoc positions in the Gonen lab
by Johan Hattne 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

Dear all; We would like to draw your attention to two HHMI-funded postdoc positions in the laboratory of Tamir Gonen at the University of California, Los Angeles. The first position concerns the biochemistry of membrane proteins, the second is focused on computational methods development. For further information, as well as application instructions, see the links below. Biochemistry https://hhmi-openhire.silkroad.com/epostings/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.jobin… Programming https://hhmi-openhire.silkroad.com/epostings/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.jobin… // Best wishes; Johan

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Two conformation of a ligand
by Muhammad Bashir Khan 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

Hi All; I have a structure where I believe that the ligand is bind in two conformations. In the Ligand Fit, it places only one even I select conformer 2. My other question is, Is there a way that I can use a reference PDB bound to the ligand in the Ligand Fit to help it placing my ligand. Thanks for your help in advance Bashir -- ------------------------------------------------------ Muhammad Bashir Khan, Ph.D. Research Associate Department of Biochemistry Medical Science Bldg. Lab 3-27 University of Alberta Edmonton AB, T6G 2H7 Phone: 780-492-4577- e-mail: mbk(a)ualberta.ca <cbrooks1(a)ualberta.ca>

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Problems displaying disulphide links
by Urvashi Sharma 20 Apr '20

20 Apr '20

Dear all, I have a problems displaying disulphide links in PyMoL and CCP4mg for a 2.3 angstrom crystal structure. I have tried both PyMoL and CCP4mg, these programs are not recognizing an important inter-domain disulphide bridge which seems to have no problems in "Coot". While other intra-domain disulphide links are fine. Can anyone suggest how to manually fix it? In addition, I have performed protein-protein docking using this crystal structure and have obtained nice convincing model. However, in this pose, which is being refined and energy minimized, none of the disulphide links are intact! Upon manual examination, I have noticed that the corresponding cysteine are 3.0-4.0 angstrom away. How should I correct this? Looking forward to your suggestions... With thanks and regards, Urvashi ---------------------------------------------------- Dr Urvashi Sharma, DBT-Ramalingaswamy faculty fellow JNU, New Delhi.

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Error log
by Viswanathan Chandrasekaran 16 Apr '20

16 Apr '20

Hi all, Other than resubmitting the job, is there a way to retrieve the contents of the Phenix error dialog box that appears at the end of a failed job? It is not present in the log file. Thanks, Vish

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iNEXT-Discovery: Access to facilities for structural biology research
by a.perrakis＠nki.nl 16 Apr '20

16 Apr '20

Dear all, While being in turbulent times, iNEXT-Discovery, the EC Horizon-2020 project offering access to facilities for structural biology (EM, NMR, X-rays and macromolecular biophysics), has officially started its operations. iNEXT-Discovery encourages applications for structural biology projects for ‘translational research projects’ in the areas of biomedicine, biotechnology, biomaterials and in the food sector, in particular from non-experts and for researchers from academia and industry. We are now happy to announce to the wider research community our new website with details about the project and where applications for access to the participating facilities can be submitted: https://inext-discovery.eu<https://inext-discovery.eu/> Regardless of current corona-measures external researchers are more than welcome to apply for access and we expect reviewing of incoming proposals to proceed as normal. However, please keep in mind that most facilities are currently not operational, and it is uncertain when they will open again to deliver access and to receive visitors. We will not be able to give a detailed overview about the status of all facilities, as the situation is changing almost daily. Having accepted applications in our access pipelines will help both our scheduling and yours. Our facilities can arrange experiments for approved user projects to be executed immediately after local policies allow. Please note that applications addressing SARS-CoV-2 or Covid-19 and mentioning this in the title will be funneled towards rapid review. Operational facilities will prioritize such projects if they can be accommodated. On behalf of the iNEXT-Discovery team, Hans Wienk (Project Manager) - email h.wienk.AT.nki.nl<http://h.wienk.at.nki.nl/> for questions about access Anastassis Perrakis (Coordinator)

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covalently linked ligand
by Muhammad Bashir Khan 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

Hi All; I have a protein molecule and a ligand structure. I want to make a covalent bond between the ligand and protein molecule, could somebody explain to me how I can do that using phenix. I used the " *phenix.ligand_linking pdb_file_name" commond* It creates apply_link.def and data_link.cif I did refine the structure again giving the above file as well but did not see any covalent bond created between the protein and ligand. Thanks for your help Bashir -- ------------------------------------------------------ Muhammad Bashir Khan, Ph.D. Research Associate Department of Biochemistry Medical Science Bldg. Lab 3-27 University of Alberta Edmonton AB, T6G 2H7 Phone: 780-492-4577- e-mail: mbk(a)ualberta.ca <cbrooks1(a)ualberta.ca>

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helix/sheet outliers
by Casper Larsen 14 Apr '20

14 Apr '20

Hi.. I am doing real space refinement on a protein model build from a cryo-em map. I run the refinement with Amber gradients turned on and with secondary structure restraints (otherwise, more or less default settings). I have some issues with helix and sheet outliers. Every time I run the refinement (after making sure that the bond distance in the helices are within the 3.5 Å) I get a lot of bad annotation remarks, but with outliers just above 3.5 Å (see .log below): ... removed outlier: 3.576A pdb=" N VAL A 179 " --> pdb=" O LEU A 175 " (cutoff:3.500A) Proline residue: A 180 - end of helix removed outlier: 3.681A pdb=" N PHE A 188 " --> pdb=" O LEU A 184 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 3.628A pdb=" N PHE A 189 " --> pdb=" O ILE A 185 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 3.521A pdb=" N ILE A 190 " --> pdb=" O ALA A 186 " (cutoff:3.500A) Processing helix chain 'A' and resid 219 through 228 removed outlier: 3.737A pdb=" N MET A 227 " --> pdb=" O GLU A 223 " (cutoff:3.500A) ... Is this something that I just need to fix in several rounds of refinement or is there an explanation? Amber gradients maybe? In addition, I have some bad sheet annotations such as: ... removed outlier: 6.987A pdb=" N VAL B 433 " --> pdb=" O LEU B 440 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 4.659A pdb=" N VAL B 442 " --> pdb=" O LEU B 431 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 6.296A pdb=" N LEU B 431 " --> pdb=" O VAL B 442 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 5.062A pdb=" N ALA B 444 " --> pdb=" O THR B 429 " (cutoff:3.500A) removed outlier: 6.129A pdb=" N THR B 429 " --> pdb=" O ALA B 444 " (cutoff:3.500A) ... When I look at the model, the residues are definitely a part of the sheet - the long distance between the N-O atoms is due to the O being "flipped" (hope it makes sense). Is this because of wrong annotation? Best Casper

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Advanced Light Source open for COVID-19 related research
by Paul Adams 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Dear Colleagues, A quick note to alert researchers to the status of the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley (https://als.lbl.gov): The ALS is now operating in a limited capacity supporting COVID-19 related research. A number of MX beamlines from the ALS-ENABLE program are now taking proposals from the general user community working on COVID-19 via the ALS RAPIDD program (https://als.lbl.gov/rapidd/); choose ALS-ENABLE as the beamline and your proposal will receive prompt review with fast turnaround for beamtime. We are evaluating the possibility of expanding access to include to other techniques such as soft X-ray tomography, and BioSAXS in the near future. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Cheers, Paul -- Paul Adams Division Director, Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging, LBL (http://biosciences.lbl.gov/divisions/mbib) Principal Investigator, Computational Crystallography Initiative, LBL (http://cci.lbl.gov) Vice President for Technology, the Joint BioEnergy Institute (http://www.jbei.org) Principal Investigator, ALS-ENABLE, Advanced Light Source (http://als-enable.lbl.gov) Division Deputy for Biosciences, Advanced Light Source (https://als.lbl.gov) Laboratory Research Manager, ENIGMA Science Focus Area (http://enigma.lbl.gov) Adjunct Professor, Department of Bioengineering, U.C. Berkeley (http://bioeng.berkeley.edu) Adjunct Professor, Comparative Biochemistry, U.C. Berkeley (http://compbiochem.berkeley.edu) Building 33, Room 250 Building 978, Room 4126 Building 977, Room 180C Tel: 1-510-486-4225 http://cci.lbl.gov/paul Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 1 Cyclotron Road BLDG 33R0345 Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Executive Assistant: Ashley Dawn [ ashleydawn(a)lbl.gov ][ 1-510-486-5455 ] --

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app which can calculate the number of reflections for a given unit cell, spacegroup, resolution?
by Georg Mlynek 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Dear Scientific community, I am looking for an app which can calculate the number of reflections for a given unit cell, spacegroup, resolution. Preferred would be a graphical output too. The program XRayView http://www.phillipslab.org/downloads comes very close what I imagine but it is not possible to select a spacegroup. It would like to use it for teaching parts of practical part during lockdown. Many thanks, br Georg.

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Two Ph.D. studentships at Newcastle University, UK Prof. Bert van den Berg
by Arnaud Basle 13 Apr '20

13 Apr '20

Dear All, Please see the attached documents for two Ph.D. studentships at Newcastle University, UK. The positions are in Prof. Bert van den Berg's laboratory and informal inquiries should be directed to him (Bert.Van-Den-Berg(a)newcastle.ac.uk). Cheers, Arnaud -- Dr Arnaud Basle X-ray facilities manager Newcastle Structural Biology Laboratory Biosciences Institute Faculty of Medical Sciences Newcastle University Framlington place NE2 4HH Newcastle upon tyne Phone 0191 208 5482

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Postdoctoral position in the Korostelev Lab
by Loveland, Anna 12 Apr '20

12 Apr '20

Postdoctoral position open at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, in the Korostelev Lab: https://www.umassmed.edu/korostelev-lab/. We study translation regulation, using cryo-EM and biochemistry. We are particularly interested in: (1) Translation accuracy; (2) Ribosome's central role in bacterial stress signaling and gene regulation; (3) Neurodegenerative and other diseases, which originate from dysregulation of translation. References to some lab publications are provided below. Our laboratory is housed at the RNA Therapeutics Institute, a vibrant and highly interactive research community: https://www.umassmed.edu/rti/about-the-rti/faculty-members/. Our colleagues are interested in nearly all aspects of RNA biology, from small to large RNAs to RNA chemistry and therapeutics development. We seek a highly motivated person who very recently received a PhD, or will soon receive a PhD. Applications sent prior to the dissertation defense date are welcome. Please submit the following information via email to: ann.powers(a)umassmed.edu 1) your CV (including publication list); 2) in less than 2 pages, an outline of your: (i) previous work - focusing on your most interesting finding(s); (ii) your current/future scientific interests, and whether/which aspects of translation regulation sound interesting to you; 3) email addresses of three references. Selected publications (accessible via the provided links): - Svidritskiy et al. “Extensive ribosome and RF2 rearrangements during translation termination<https://elifesciences.org/articles/46850>”. eLife.2019. - Loveland et al. “Ensemble cryo-EM elucidates the mechanism of translation fidelity<https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22397>”. Nature. 2017. - Demo et al. “Structure of RNA polymerase bound to ribosomal 30S subunit<https://elifesciences.org/articles/28560>”. eLife. 2017. - Abeyrathne et al. “Ensemble cryo-EM uncovers inchworm-like translocation of a viral IRES through the ribosome<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4896748/>”. eLife. 2016. - Loveland et al. “Ribosome•RelA structures reveal the mechanism of stringent response activation<https://elifesciences.org/articles/17029>”. eLife. 2016. --- Anna Loveland, Ph.D. anna.loveland(a)umassmed.edu 617 610 4321 (cell) Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential, proprietary and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender immediately and destroy or permanently delete all copies of the original message.

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Problem with molecular replacement
by Shramana Chatterjee 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

Hi, I am trying to solve a structure using a data solved by SAD as an reference (ensemble in phaser). The structure I am trying to solve has 100% sequence identity with the solved one. The problem that I am facing during Phaser MR is that, in the solved structure there are 6 molecules in the ASU although I am getting maximum 4 molecules in the ASU and also Rfree is around 0.49 just after the phaser. Phaser is showing a good values of LLG (>500) and TFZ (>8). It would be very helpful if I get any suggestion about the above-mentioned problem. Thank you in advance.

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Re: [phenixbb] Problem with molecular replacement
by Shramana Chatterjee 09 Apr '20

09 Apr '20

Thanks Roger. I am trying through looking at packing of crystal lattice.It seems that there are some gaps in the lattice. May be this is identical with the solved one because of identical cell dimension and space group. Although I think I should cross check with lattice as Matthew's analysis suggest a different number of copies. On Thu, Apr 9, 2020 at 8:51 AM Roger Rowlett <rrowlett(a)colgate.edu> wrote: > For MR solutions with more than 4 molecules in the ASU, you can improve > your chances of finding a solution by employing the following > considerations: > > The number of protein units in the ASU predicted by Matthew's analysis my > not be accurate for n>4. Always look at the molecular packing of potential > solutions in the ASU using Coot or Pymol. You may discover you have too > many molecules, and therefore overlaps, or too few molecules, leaving > protein size gaps in the crystal lattice. Lattice packing of partial > solutions may guide your thinking about the correct number of molecules in > the ASU. A good solution should normally have symmetrical and clear solvent > channels, and good contacts between all molecules. > > You may nave a better chance of obtaining a initial solution by searching > with dimers (if structurally appropriate) than monomers. > > Unless your crystal form is identical to the solved version, there is no > guarantee your N will be the same as the solved N molecules in the ASU. Use > the Matthew's analysis and lattice packing as your guide. > > Using this approach I've been able to obtain MR solutions for ASUs with > N=6-8, even with identities as low as 30%. > > Good luck. > > Roger Rowlett > Gordon & Dorothy Kline Professor, Emeritus > Colgate University > > > On Wed, Apr 8, 2020, 11:43 PM Shramana Chatterjee <schatter90(a)gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Hi, >> >> I am trying to solve a structure using a data solved by SAD as an >> reference (ensemble in phaser). The structure I am trying to solve has 100% >> sequence identity with the solved one. The problem that I am facing during >> Phaser MR is that, in the solved structure there are 6 molecules in the ASU >> although I am getting maximum 4 molecules in the ASU and also Rfree is >> around 0.49 just after the phaser. Phaser is showing a good values of LLG >> (>500) and TFZ (>8). >> >> It would be very helpful if I get any suggestion about the >> above-mentioned problem. >> >> Thank you in advance. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> phenixbb mailing list >> phenixbb(a)phenix-online.org >> http://phenix-online.org/mailman/listinfo/phenixbb >> Unsubscribe: phenixbb-leave(a)phenix-online.org > >

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refinement of EM models with hydrogens using phenix.real_space_refine
by Coudray, Nicolas 08 Apr '20

08 Apr '20

Hi all, We had a question regarding how the phenix.real_space_refine works when used to refine CryoEM models with hydrogens: are hydrogens treated as riding or are they explicitly refined? Regards, Nicolas

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LINK to chromophore
by 김경현[ 교수 / 생명정보공학과 ] 06 Apr '20

06 Apr '20

Hi, I get linking problems of the CRF chromophore in GFP, where the peptide bonds connecting to each end of the chromophore to the protein do not show planar configuration. The LINK cif seems to only constrain bonds and angles. Any help how to fix the planar peptide bonds at the connecting ends? Many thanks. Regards, Kyung hyun == Prof. Kyung Hyun Kim, Ph.D. Rm 244 R&D Center Green Campus Korea University Anam dong, Sungbuk gu, Seoul 136-701 Department of Biotechnology & Bioinformatics Korea University Sejong Campus, Sejong, Korea Tel : +82 2 3290 3444, +82 10 9014 1416 Homepage : *sbl.korea.ac.kr <http://sbl.korea.ac.kr>*

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ISOLDE 1.0b5 release
by Tristan Croll 06 Apr '20

06 Apr '20

Hi all, For those still lucky enough to be working on molecular model building during this crisis, I've just pushed ISOLDE 1.0b5 out to the ChimeraX ToolShed (to work with the ChimeraX 0.93 release version - download from http://preview.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/download.html#release, then install ISOLDE from within ChimeraX via Tools/More Tools...). While development has been a little light since version 1.0b4 due to travel in February and then, well... everything since, there are a few new features and bug-fixes worth downloading for: - Perhaps the biggest improvement isn't actually mine - thanks to some stellar work by Tom Goddard at UCSF, ChimeraX's ribbon drawing is now ten times faster than before. Particularly for those working with very large models, this drastically reduces the lag time upon finishing an interactive simulation and returning to the default display mode. - I've done some optimisations to the methods for choosing the initial map contour levels and the MDFF coupling constant (how strongly the map "pulls" on the model during simulations). They're now about 20 times faster, removing most of the delay on initial preparation of a model for ISOLDE. - If you're lucky enough to be working on a multi-GPU machine, you can now explicitly specify the GPU to use for simulations with the command "isolde set gpuDeviceIndex {a number}" (you may need to experiment to work out which GPU is which) - You can adjust the number of simulation steps between GUI updates with "isolde set timeStepsPerGuiUpdate". This is particularly useful for slower GPUs - your simulation won't actually run faster, but your experience of it will be much smoother. The default value of 50 works well for high-end GPUs; for (for example) light-weight MacBook GPUs a value of 10 may be more suitable. Performance curves for a few of the machines available to me can be found at https://isolde.cimr.cam.ac.uk/performance-benchmarks/. - The command "clipper symmetry #{model number}" will draw a unit cell with all rotational symmetry and screw axes (mirror symmetry is not yet handled). The depiction is still a work in progress, but the fundamentals are there. - While not new to 1.0b5, a reminder that since 1.0b4 ISOLDE is fully compatible with ChimeraX's session save/restore. The command "save {filename}.cxs" will save your current session (including your model(s), all custom restraints, maps, weightings and visualisation state) to a file which can be reopened on the same or another machine to pick up exactly where you left off. Known bug: (seemingly only) on Linux machines, certain links to the help files (e.g. by typing "usage isolde" on the command line and then clicking the "isolde adjust distances"link in the log) sometimes cause segmentation faults if the help browser is not already open, crashing ChimeraX. This appears to be a bug in the Qt 5.12 web browser implementation, but so far has proven near-impossible to isolate. To avoid it, simply make sure the help browser is open (Help/User Guide) before clicking any links in the log. I very much hope you find it useful. Stay healthy! Tristan

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Update on COVID-19 Open Structures initiative
by Randy Read 03 Apr '20

03 Apr '20

Dear all, Last week I posted the message below, suggesting an open science approach to ensure that there will be no unnecessary delays in the determination of crystal structures related to COVID-19, whether they’re from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, interacting host proteins, or complexes. Working together, and combining expertise in data analysis, structure determination and computational modelling, we believe we can greatly accelerate progress on difficult structures. Since last week we’ve chosen a platform, Microsoft Teams, to coordinate the effort, created a new Team and built the bare bones of a site ready for new targets. (For those who prefer other collaboration platforms such as Slack or Zulip, they might well have advantages but I had easy access to the Teams infrastructure and we’re already using it for working from home.) If you believe that you can bring expertise to this initiative and you’re willing to share your insights and any promising results immediately with others, please get in touch and I’ll add you to the team. If you have diffraction data for a target structure for this initiative, please send an email to me, to Massimo Sammito (mds83(a)cam.ac.uk) and to the CASP organisers (casp(a)predictioncenter.org). Either Massimo or I will add you to the team, upload the target data, links and other information and send an alert to everyone who has registered. Best wishes, Randy Read =========== The Covid-19 crisis is bringing out the best in the communities we belong to, with many people giving deep thought to how we can use our skills to help. On the crystallography bulletin boards we've seen offers to help in solving Covid-19-related structures that prove difficult, offers to help with improving protein stability, suggestions that the deposition of raw diffraction images would allow the community to help get the best possible version of any relevant structure, and requests to share bioinformatics analyses and predictions of what are the most interesting targets. We're writing to suggest an additional way that the community can help to accelerate progress in the structural understanding of Covid-19. The CASP (Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction) organisers have recently launched an initiative to mobilise the structure prediction community to predict and refine 3D structures of SARS-2-Covid proteins and relevant complexes that either have unknown structure or are non-trivial modelling targets: http://predictioncenter.org/caspcommons/index.cgi. Note that the models will be refined much more extensively than typically done in a normal CASP round, which should make them even better than the impressive results seen in recent years. We would like to build on this initiative, and the enthusiasm this has revealed in the prediction community, to help to accelerate the determination of structures needed for a molecular-level understanding of Covid-19. Structure prediction has reached a level of maturity where predicted ab initio models and distant homology models can be accurate enough to solve new structures by molecular replacement. The best way to bring the prediction and experimental communities together to exploit these developments and accelerate progress is to embrace an open science approach. To that end, we propose the following: * If you have diffraction data involving a SARS-2-Covid protein, a host protein relevant to pathogenesis or a complex, but you are not immediately able to solve the structure, contact the CASP organisers (casp(a)predictioncenter.org) with the sequence(s) of the construct(s) that went into the crystallisation drop. If relevant predictions have already been made, any unreleased models will be released at this point (along with predictions of local accuracy). If proteins in your crystals are not already modelling targets, the CASP organisers will consider them as potential new targets for the modelling community. * We all want the fastest possible progress on scientific understanding of Covid-19, and this can best be achieved by completely open science. On a number of occasions at crystallographic computing schools and workshops, we have seen extremely difficult structures yield to the combined expertise of a number of developers and "power users" of the software, none of whom knew how to solve every problem that arose. Even before CASP models are available, some other crystallographer may find a way to solve the structure! So it would be ideal if the sequence information you provide to the CASP organisers was accompanied by a DOI or URL pointing at the diffraction data, preferably in the form of raw images as well as integrated data. Data from different crystal forms or poorly isomorphous crystals can also be incredibly valuable. Openness should go both ways, so people who wish to access these data will be asked to agree to immediately release any positive results, even if these fall short of a full structure solution, so that others can build on them. Best wishes, Randy Read (in cooperation with the CASP organisers) ----- Randy J. Read Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge Cambridge Institute for Medical Research Tel: +44 1223 336500 The Keith Peters Building Fax: +44 1223 336827 Hills Road E-mail: rjr27(a)cam.ac.uk Cambridge CB2 0XY, U.K. www-structmed.cimr.cam.ac.uk

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