Hi all,

Here is a problem that's been annoying me, and demanding levels of thought all 
out of proportion with the importance of the project:

I have two related crystal forms of the same small protein. In both cases, the 
data look quite decent, and extend beyond 2 A, but the refinement stalls with 
statistics that are just bad enough to make me deeply uncomfortable. However, 
the maps look pretty good, and there's no obvious path to push the refinement 
further. Xtriage doesn't raise any red flags, nor does running the data through 
the Yeates twinning server.

Xtal form 1: P22(1)2(1), a=29.0, b=57.4, c=67.4; 2 molecules/AU. Resolution of 
data ~ 1.9 Å. Refinement converges with R/Rfree = 0.24/0.27

Xtal form 2: P2(1)2(1)2(1), a=59.50, b=61.1, c=67.2; 4 molecules/AU. Resolution 
of data ~ 1.7 Å. Refinement converges w/ R/Rfree = 0.21/0.26

As you would expect, the packing is essentially the same in both crystal forms. 

It's interesting to note (but is it relevant?) that the packing is quite 
dense--solvent content is only 25-30%.

This kind of stalling at high R values smells like a twin problem, but it's not 
clear to me what specific kind of twinning might explain this behavior.

Any thoughts about what I might be missing here?

Thanks,

Pat


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick J. Loll, Ph. D.  
Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Director, Biochemistry Graduate Program
Drexel University College of Medicine
Room 10-102 New College Building
245 N. 15th St., Mailstop 497
Philadelphia, PA  19102-1192  USA

(215) 762-7706
pat.l...@drexelmed.edu

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