Flopping polypeptide chains and Suleika's subtle imperfections: analysis of variations in the electron micrograph of...

Patch averaging, a method of data analysis combining correlation averaging with multivariate statistical analysis, was applied to a high-resolution image of a purple membrane thin crystal. The observed variational patterns fall in two categories: non-crystallographic, related to small electron-optical distortions of the microscope, and crystallographic, conceivably related to variations in the locations of flexible segments of the polypeptide chain on the surface of the membrane.