Single-particle reconstruction withEMAN

Abstract

Single-particle reconstruction is a technique for determining the three-dimensional structure of large sets of identical nanoscale objects, typically proteins or macromolecular assemblies, using electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM). This technique has now demonstrated resolutions of 3–5 A for a number of targets and can routinely achieve subnanometre resolution. EMAN is a scientific image-processing software suite first developed to make single-particle reconstructions more reproducible and less labour-intensive. While it has since expanded to include many algorithms for other types of image processing, providing robust single-particle reconstructions with minimal effort remains one of its primary focuses. It includes a complete workflow infrastructure for this and other tasks in cryo-EM image analysis and structural biology. Keywords: EMAN; single-particle reconstruction; electron cryomicroscopy