On Tuesday, 18 July 2017 00:01:59 CDaddy wrote: > I am a structural biologist who is teaching X-ray crystallography. Recently I > noticed that BrlR structure (5XQL) was solved using molecular replacement > with a search model of very low similarity. I am very interested in this > structure because I think this a very good example to show students how to > solve phase problem using molecular replacement, especially when the model > and the target protein share a low sequence identity. However, when I > downloaded the data from PDB, I found that I cannot solve the phase problem > using Phaser as mentioned by the authors. During this procedure BmrR > (PDB:1R8E) was used as the search model. I tried to consult the authors for > help but receive no response by now. Since the description of this issue in > the literature is very brief, could anyone please spend a little time on this > molecular replacement and give me some advices on this issue? I like to learn > some valuable tricks. Your assistance will be highly appreciated.
I have no familiarity with either structure, but even a cursory glance at the cartoon depiction of 5XQL in the PDB suggests that you would want to chop it into at least 3 pieces in order to use it for molecular replacement. Did you try placing the N- and C- terminal domains separately after chopping out the long connecting helix? Ethan -- Ethan A Merritt, Dept of Biochemistry Biomolecular Structure Center, K-428 Health Sciences Bldg MS 357742, University of Washington, Seattle 98195-7742