Density modification with with phenix.density_modification

Contents

Author(s)

Purpose

phenix.density_modification is a tool to run Resolve to carry out density modification, including the use of NCS symmetry and electron-density distributions. Masks for the solvent boundary and for the region where NCS operators are to be applied can be specified as PDB files with dummy atoms marking the masked regions.

Usage

How phenix.density_modification works

In phenix.density_modification phases are improved by combining any existing phase information with phase probabilities based on the agreement of your electron density map with expectations about that map. This procedure is known as statisical density modification and is carried out by phenix.resolve. The expectations about a map include:

The inputs to phenix.density_modification are :

Required:

Optional:

Density modification starting with phases and HL coefficients

This kind of density modification is normally carried out after experimental phasing, but it can also be carried out if you have created HL coefficients from your data and a model.

In these cases you have phases and phase probability information (F, SIGF, PHIB FOM, HLA HLB HLC HLD).

Prior to density modification, the amplitudes (F, SIGF) are normally corrected for anisotropy and sharpened. You can control this by specifying the target overall B value after sharpening. By default the target overall (Wilson) B is 10 times the high-resolution limit of the data (or the resolution that you specify), up to a maximum of 40 (you can change that too).

A starting map is calculated from F, PHIB, FOM. The location of the macromolecule and solvent are estimated in a probabilistic way using the local variation in the map (with a smoothing radius of rad_wang) to discriminate between the two.

Phases are optimized to agree with the HL coefficients and to yield a map that has a flat solvent, NCS (if present), and density distributions matching model maps.

Density modification with NCS

If you supply NCS operators, phenix.density_modification will automatically figure out the region over which this NCS is present. Within this region, it will weight the density for NCS calculations according to how similar the density is at NCS-related locations. If you supply an NCS mask, that is used instead. The density at NCS-related locations is used as part of the target for density modification.

Density modification with a model

If you supply a model, density modification occurs in several steps. First the data are corrected for anisotropy as above. Then the model is used to estimate phases, fom, and HL coefficients. Then density modification is carried out much as described above for experimental phasing. Then a final step is carried out in which model density is used as part of the target for density modification.

To instead create HL coefficients from your data and model and use those with phenix.density_modification, first run phenix.refine to refine your model. Then run phenix.reciprocal_space_arrays with your model and data and it will create HL coefficients for you.

Note on R-values in density modification

The R-value for density modification is quite different from a refinement R. Basically the statistical (maximum-likelihood) density modification procedure allows calculation of each structure factor based on the values of all the other structure factors and the expectations about the map (i.e, flat solvent, distribution of density values in protein, ncs, etc.) These "map-phasing" structure factors are (at least in the first cycle) independent of the starting structure factors and can be compared with the measured data and an R-value obtained. The values of these R-values range from about 0.25 to 0.5 in most cases, and when the map is very good usually the R values are smaller. These R values do not involve any atomic model so they are quite unlike a refinement R.

For discussion of how map-likelihood structure factors are calculated in Resolve, see the Map-likelihood phasing reference below.

Output files from phenix.density_modification

denmod.mtz: Density-modified map coefficients. If you specify
hl_in_output_mtz=True then it will also contain Hendrickson Lattman coefficients

solvent_boundary.map: CCP4-style map file showing the solvent boundary

ncs_boundary.map: CCP4-style map file showing the asymmetric unit of NCS

Examples

Standard run of phenix.density_modification

Running phenix.density_modification from the command line is easy.

phenix.phenix.density_modification phaser_1.mtz solvent_content=0.5

In this example, phaser_1.mtz (the output of Phaser experimental phasing) normally has F, SIGF, PHIB, FOM, HLA HLB HLC HLD, each of which is identified automatically. Standard density modification using these experimental phases and phase probabilities is carried out.

Run specifying resolution, mask type, and output mtz

phenix.phenix.density_modification phaser_1.mtz solvent_content=0.64 \
resolution=3 output_mtz=denmod_std.mtz mask_type=histograms

In this example, the high-resolution limit is set to 3 A, the output file is denmod_std.mtz, and the solvent mask is identified using a histogram-based method (mask_type=histograms).

Run specifying a mask for the solvent boundary

phenix.phenix.density_modification phaser_1.mtz solvent_content=0.64 \
mask_from_pdb=mask.pdb rad_mask=4

In this example, the file mask.pdb has dummy atoms that indicate where the macromolecule is located. All points within 4 A (rad_mask=4) of an atom in mask.pdb are considered to be within the macromolecule region.

Run specifying NCS operators

phenix.phenix.density_modification phaser_1.mtz solvent_content=0.64 \
ncs_file=ncs.ncs_spec

In this example, the file ncs.ncs_spec (created with phenix.find_ncs or phenix.autosol or phenix.simple_ncs_from_pdb or phenix.autobuild) contains the NCS operators. These will be used to automatically find the region where NCS applies. Then the NCS-related density will be used as part of density modification.

Run specifying NCS operators and the region where they are to apply

phenix.phenix.density_modification phaser_1.mtz solvent_content=0.64 \
ncs_file=ncs.ncs_spec ncs_domain_pdb=ncs_mask.pdb rad_mask=5

This example is like the previous one, except instead of finding the region where NCS applies automatically, it is defined by the atoms in ncs_mask.pdb. All points within rad_mask (5 A in this example) of an atom in ncs_mask.pdb are considered to be within the region where NCS applies. This is useful if you want to apply NCS only to a part of the region where NCS is present.

Possible Problems

Specific limitations and problems:

Literature

Additional information

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