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Updated: Aug 24, 2026

Microcrystallography of Protein Crystals and In Cellulo Diffraction
Published on: July 21, 2017
Untangle, a tool for filtering overlapping diffraction patterns from multicrystals
Lieven Buts1, Minh-Hoa Dao-Thi, Lode Wyns
1Department of Ultrastructure, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium. lievbuts@vub.ac.be
Abstract:
Standard crystallographic data-processing protocols are based on single-crystal models; data from aggregates of multiple crystals with different orientations are difficult to process. In certain cases, it is possible to separately index the diffraction patterns from the dominant crystals in the aggregate. Untangle is a program designed to identify and eliminate overlapping spots from such patterns in order to improve data quality. The program has a Python core with a simple and highly portable graphical user interface, permitting visual verification of the process and interactive modification of the overlap threshold. The software is available under an open-source license.
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