RCN: Fiber Diffraction From Biological Polymers and Assemblies

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This project will create a network to coordinate development of biological fiber diffraction methods, particularly computational methods. Many biological molecular assemblies are long helical structures, and have a natural tendency to form fibers. Structural studies of these fibers are difficult; conventional macromolecular crystallography is not usually possible. Fiber diffraction, however, is a powerful technique for determining the structural details of such assemblies. Activities will include development and integration of software for biological fiber diffraction, and exchange of information about fiber diffraction methods through retreats, workshops, and a public web site. Software applications will be adapted to various platforms, integrated with the suite of programs available through the British Collaborative Computational Project for Fibre Diffraction (CCP13), and made available to the scientific community. New software will be developed where existing software is inadequate. The network software will be complementary to CCP13 software; together, they will eventually cover all aspects of biological fiber diffraction. The network will integrate fiber diffraction groups in the USA with each other and with the world fiber diffraction community, particularly with CCP13. This will be done through workshops organized by the core participants, including workshops at the BioCAT facility at Argonne National Laboratory, and through partial sponsorship of sessions organized by the fiber diffraction Special Interest Group of the American Crystallographic Association.Broader impact will be through involvement of undergraduates, graduate students and others in the workshops and the research, and through enhancement of infrastructure for research and education.