De novo 3D model generation

relion-5.0 uses a gradient-driven algorithm to generate a de novo 3D initial reference from the pseudo-subtomograms. This algorithm is different from the SGD algorithm in the CryoSPARC program [PRFB17]. Provided you have a reasonable distribution of angular directions, this algorithm is likely to yield a suitable low-resolution model that can subsequently be used for 3D classification or 3D auto-refine.

The sample and the sphere picking procedure used in this tutorial make it possible to obtain initial orientations normal to the spheroidal surface during the picking process, which can be used to obtain an initial reference using the Reconstruct particle job, as explained in the Reconstruct particle section. The map obtained in this way will be used as a reference for the first 3D auto refine job at bin 6, which will be explained in the Initial 3D refinement section.

However, here we will show how to obtain a de novo model without any prior knowledge, using the VDAM algorithm. We have noticed that in some cases VDAM generates better initial models using 3D pseudo-sobtomograms rather than 2D stacks, so you may want to try both approaches for your own dataset. To generate 3D stacks, a new Extract subtomos job should be run with the Write output as 2D stacks? option set to No (see the Extract subtomos section).

Running the job

Select the Extract/job010/optimisation_set.star file on the I/O tab of the 3D initial reference jobtype. Everything is already in order on the CTF tab. Fill in the Optimisation tab as follows:

Number of VDAM mini-batches:

100

(The number of iterations of VDAM. The algorithm will loop over mini-batches, which contain only hundreds to thousands of particles.)

Regularisation parameter T:

4

(Values greater than 1 for this regularisation parameter (T in the JMB2011 paper) put more weight on the experimental data. Values around 2-4 have been observed to be useful for 3D initial model calculations.)

Number of classes:

1

(Sometimes, using more than one class may help in providing a ‘sink’ for sub-optimal particles that may still exist in the data set. In this case, which is quite homogeneous, a single class should work just fine.)

Mask diameter (A):

500

Flatten and enforce non-negative solvent:

Yes

Symmetry:

C6

Run in C1 and apply symmetry later:

Yes

(If set to yes, the actual refinement will be run in C1, which has been observed to converge better than performing it in higher symmetry groups. After the refinement, the relion_align_symmetry program is run to automatically detect the symmetry axes and the symmetry will be applied.)

Prior width on tilt angle (deg):

10

(Since the picking gives tilt angles so that the particles are normal to surface of the pseudo-spheres, we enforce this prior knowledge here.)

On the Compute tab, set:

Use parallel disc I/O?:

Yes

Number of pooled particles::

30

Pre-read all particles into RAM?:

No

Copy particles to scratch directory:

“”

Combine iterations through disc?:

No

Use GPU acceleration?:

Yes

Which GPUs to use:

0

On the Running tab, set:

Number of MPI procs:

1

(Remember that the gradient-driven algorithm does not scale well with MPI.)

Number of threads:

8

Using the settings above, this job took 90 minutes on our system. If you didn’t get that coffee before, perhaps now is a good time too…

Analysing the results

You could look at the output map from the gradient-driven algorithm (InitialModel/job011/run_it100_class001.mrc) with a 3D viewer like UCSF chimera. If Run in C1 and apply symmetry later was set to yes, you should probably confirm that the symmetry point group was correct and that the symmetry axes were identified correctly. If so, the symmetrised output map (InitialModel/job011/initial_model.mrc) should look similar to the output map from the gradient-driven algorithm.