New features and enhancements in the X-PLOR computer program

This article describes new methods for X-ray crystallographic refinement and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) structure determination that are available in the recent release of the X-PLOR software, X-PLOR 98.0. The major new features of the X-PLOR 98.0 software are: (i) the introduction of maximum likelihood methods (Pannu and Read, Acta Crystallogr 1996;A52:659-668) for X-ray crystallographic refinement with structure factor amplitude, intensity and phase probability targets, (ii) the addition of the Andersen thermal coupling method for temperature control during simulated annealing refinements, (iii) a new utility function for converting reflection data in to the X-PLOR format, (iv) validated scripts and performance enhancements for structure determination from NMR distance restraints using torsion angle dynamics, (v) fast code for direct nuclear Oberhauser effect (NOE) refinement using matrix doubling and gaussian quadratures, (vi) methodologies for using ambiguous restraint information to perform automated iterative peak assignment and structure determination (Nilges et al., J Mol Biol 1997;269: 408-422). Additional developments in methodology for refining crystal structures from poor initial models include the implementation of a fast adaptive bulk solvent scattering correction and an energy minimization routine that makes use of second derivative information. Trial crystallographic refinements with an energy minimization protocol that includes these enhancements indicate significantly improved convergence. The quality of the resulting models appears comparable to models obtained from refinement protocols that incorporate torsion angle dynamics. Test applications of the new energy minimizer to NMR structure refinement with using NOE calculations also show improved convergence, leading to more optimized final models.