April 2025 - ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

RMSD for all frames in a trajectory
by Alexandra Zahradnikova 07 May '25

07 May '25

Dear All, I am working with a trajectory of a tetramer. I would like to align the A chains in all frame of the trajectory and then calculate the rmsd of all chains in all frames relative to the respective chain of the first frame (i.e., align only chains A but calculate for all chains), and write the results to a text file. Is that possible? I can do a similar calculation with a script in old Chimera but don’t know how to do it in ChimeraX. I attach the zipped script for old Chimera. Best regards Sasha

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How can I overlay the 2Fo-Fc density map onto the amino acid residues I specified?
by 1025049892＠qq.com 05 May '25

05 May '25

Every time I open the map file in ChimeraX, I find that it doesn't overlap with my PDB structure. Why is this the case, and how can I make them match? Thank you for your attention. I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Morphing of structures with different chain numbers
by Enrico Martinez 01 May '25

01 May '25

Dear ChimeraX Users, I am trying to perform a morphing between two cryo-EM structures of the same complex, where one structure has twice the number of chains as the other (PDBs 3J9K and 8Y6Q). However, the larger structure causes an error during morphing. I have attempted to write a script that aligns the two structures and deletes the unmatched chains from the larger structure. Unfortunately, the script is not working as expected. from chimerax.core.commands import run def delete_unmatched_chains(session): # Get models #1 and #2 m1 = next((m for m in session.models if m.id == (1,)), None) m2 = next((m for m in session.models if m.id == (2,)), None) if m1 is None or m2 is None: session.logger.info("Model #1 or #2 not found.") return chains1 = {chain.chain_id for chain in m1.chains} chains2 = {chain.chain_id for chain in m2.chains} unmatched = chains1 - chains2 if unmatched: chain_ids = ",".join(unmatched) # Deleting unmatched chains run(session, f"delete /{chain_ids}") session.logger.info(f"Deleted chains: {', '.join(unmatched)}") else: session.logger.info("No unmatched chains found.") Could you please help me or alternatively propose another solution? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance ! Enrico

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Saving Images with Specific Dimensions and DPI in ChimeraX
by svle＠tiscali.it 30 Apr '25

30 Apr '25

Hi, In Chimera, when saving an image, it's possible to specify the output size in centimeters and the resolution in DPI. This feature is very useful for preparing figures for theses and publications. Is it possible to do the same in ChimeraX? I've read the documentation for the save command, but it's not entirely clear to me how to achieve this. Do you have any suggestions? Best regards, Saverio

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Reproducing the Chimera Preset Publication 5 ( flat ribbon ) in ChimeraX
by svle＠tiscali.it 30 Apr '25

30 Apr '25

Hi, it is possible to reproduce the Chimera Preset Publication 5 ( flat ribbon ) in ChimeraX? What are the commands to use in order to have this type of preset in ChimeraX? This is a very nice preset. Thanks. Saverio

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How to apply symmetry I to generate an icosahedron model
by 唐延婷 29 Apr '25

29 Apr '25

Hi doctor, when I open a map (ID 1) and a model (ID 2), the map is the whole icosahedron while the model is the protomer of the icosahedron. I want to apply symmetry I to generate an icosahedron model. I have rotated and translated the model into a reasonable position inside the map and then done a “fit in map” to get the initial placement for sym. Then I enter a command ''measure center #1''，center of mass xyz coordinates for map_sharp.mrc = (238.08, 238.08, 238.08)，enter another command ''sym #2 I,222 center 238.08, 238.08, 238.08'' I can see an icosahedron model fit in map. But when I save the icosahedron model.pdb, I found the icosahedron model actually is the model of the protomer. How can I apply symmetry I to generate a true icosahedron model, used for subsequent model refine in coot and real_space_refine in Phenix. Thank you very much. Best wishes! yanting 延婷 yanting.tang(a)mail.nankai.edu.cn

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Issues with find cavities tool
by Marino, Claudia 28 Apr '25

28 Apr '25

Greetings, I am not sure why I recently cannot longer use the tool “find cavities”. My ChimeraX version is 1.9 and my MacOS is Sequoia 15.4. Please, find below the screenshot of the Error message. [cid:image001.png@01DBA7F0.57B85750] Thank you very much in advance for your help. Sincerely, Claudia.

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reduce gridpoints on the cryoEM map (640 x 640 x 640 ) to ( 320 x 320 x 320)
by arangarajan＠initialtx.com 28 Apr '25

28 Apr '25

hi, i need to reduce the grid points to make the map work with MOE. I am not sure if this is possible in chimerax and i would appreciate some suggestions for creating a mrc file with reduced grid points. please let me know your thoughts. best amith

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Effect of clearing ChimeraX cache from Mac?
by Radford, Katelyn M. (Kate) 24 Apr '25

24 Apr '25

Hi there! I'm in the throes of a memory-expensive project and my computer is running out of space. A little bit of googling led me to conclude that it would probably make sense for me to clear my system's cache, as my system files take up about a third of my disk space. ChimeraX cache files account for a substantial portion of that memory usage. As I make figures, I save .cxs files of each figure so that it's easy to go back and edit things that need to be changed. My ChimeraX also has a bunch of plug-ins installed (e.g. ISOLDE). I'm wondering: how much damage will I do to my installation and to my .cxs files if I delete the ChimeraX cache? System and software details: ChimeraX version: 1.9 MacOS: Ventura 13.0 Chip: Apple M2 Max Thank you all so much for the excellent work you do, Best wishes, Kate Kate Radford (she/they) PhD candidate, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics California Institute of Technology 1200 E California Blvd Pasadena, CA 91125

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Re: cartoon not displaying in ChimeraX despite complete backbone
by amith ranga 23 Apr '25

23 Apr '25

Dear ChimeraX users, I'm unable to display the cartoon representation for pdb file in ChimeraX, even though the residues and atoms appear complete. The structure contains standard RNA residues (A, G, U) , Each residue includes all expected backbone atoms (P, O5', C5', C4', C3', O3', C1', O4', etc.) as well as complete base atoms and hydrogens. The file was written out from MOE software and I am not sure if this is an issue. Some tips on how to edit the pdb file would be helpful Thanks, amith

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