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Abstract: The conventional approach to finding structurally similar search models for use in molecular replacement (MR) is to use the sequence of the target to search against those of a set of known structures. Sequence similarity often correlates with structure similarity. Given sufficient similarity, a known structure correctly positioned in the target cell by the MR process can provide an approximation to the unknown phases of the target. An alternative approach to identifying homologous structures suitable for MR is to exploit the measured data directly, comparing the lattice parameters or the experimentally derived structure-factor amplitudes with those of known structures. Here, SIMBAD, a new sequence-independent MR pipeline which implements these approaches, is presented. SIMBAD can identify cases of contaminant crystallization and other mishaps such as mistaken identity (swapped crystallization trays), as well as solving unsequenced targets and providing a brute-force approach where sequence-dependent search-model identification may be nontrivial, for example because of conformational diversity among identifiable homologues. The program implements a three-step pipeline to efficiently identify a suitable search model in a database of known structures. The first step performs a lattice-parameter search against the entire Protein Data Bank (PDB), rapidly determining whether or not a homologue exists in the same crystal form. The second step is designed to screen the target data for the presence of a crystallized contaminant, a not uncommon occurrence in macromolecular crystallography. Solving structures with MR in such cases can remain problematic for many years, since the search models, which are assumed to be similar to the structure of interest, are not necessarily related to the structures that have actually crystallized. To cater for this eventuality, SIMBAD rapidly screens the data against a database of known contaminant structures. Where the first two steps fail to yield a solution, a final step in SIMBAD can be invoked to perform a brute-force search of a nonredundant PDB database provided by the MoRDa MR software. Through early-access usage of SIMBAD, this approach has solved novel cases that have otherwise proved difficult to solve.

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Abstract: The CCP4 (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4) software suite for macromolecular structure determination by X-ray crystallography groups brings together many programs and libraries that, by means of well established conventions, interoperate effectively without adhering to strict design guidelines. Because of this inherent flexibility, users are often presented with diverse, even divergent, choices for solving every type of problem. Recently, CCP4 introduced CCP4i2, a modern graphical interface designed to help structural biologists to navigate the process of structure determination, with an emphasis on pipelining and the streamlined presentation of results. In addition, CCP4i2 provides a framework for writing structure-solution scripts that can be built up incrementally to create increasingly automatic procedures.

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Abstract: The CCP4 software suite [1] provides a comprehensive set of tools for use in the macromolecule structure solution process by X-ray crystallography. Traditionally, these tools have been run through the graphical interface or the command line on each user's personal workstation. Recently, some of the tools, including the molecular replacement pipelines Balbes [2] and MrBUMP [3] have been provided as web services in the Research Complex at Harwell. These pipelines can be especially useful in cases where there is low sequence identity between the target-structure sequence and that of its set of possible homologues. These services can be accessed through a web client, allowing one to submit molecular replacement jobs to our Linux cluster and view the results from these jobs. The molecular replacement pipelines are ideal candidates for web services, as they require installation and maintenance of large databases and benefit from parallel computing resources, provided by the cluster. Further plans for web services will be discussed. With ever-increasing mobility of scientific setups and the ubiquity of ultra-portable devices, there is a demand for a consistent framework of remote crystallographic computations and data maintenance. This framework is planned to include an interface for synchronising data with the facilities of Diamond Light Source, as well as with local CCP4 GUI-2 setups.

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Abstract: Molecular replacement is one of the key methods used to solve the problem of determining the phases of structure factors in protein structure solution from X-ray image diffraction data. Its success rate has been steadily improving with the development of improved software methods and the increasing number of structures available in the PDB for use as search models. Despite this, in cases where there is low sequence identity between the target-structure sequence and that of its set of possible homologues it can be a difficult and time-consuming chore to isolate and prepare the best search model for molecular replacement. MrBUMP and BALBES are two recent developments from CCP4 that have been designed to automate and speed up the process of determining and preparing the best search models and putting them through molecular replacement. Their intention is to provide the user with a broad set of results using many search models and to highlight the best of these for further processing. An overview of both programs is presented along with a description of how best to use them, citing case studies and the results of large-scale testing of the software.