[gmx-users] how to stop duplicate atoms from being deleted

Jennifer Williams Jennifer.Williams at ed.ac.uk
Fri Oct 23 18:48:05 CEST 2009


Thanks again for the help. I?ve given it a go but am not overly  
confident or exactly sure how I would translate this method to my  
system.

This is because rather than having a chain with a well defined start  
and finish I have a giant covalent structure (like a web) where each  
silicon is tetrahedrally bound to oxygen (as in quartz).

          O?
          |
       ?O-Si-O ?
          |
          O?

Here I describe my efforts so far.

I have defined a monomer (my internal unit) as an SiO4 tetrahedra.    
Therefore each monomer would have to form 4 bonds with other monomers.  
I have defined my internal residue like this:

; Internal residue
[ MCM_I ]
  [ atoms ]
    SI    SI    1.280     1
    O1    O1   -0.640     1
    O2    O2   -0.640     1
    O3    O3   -0.640     1
    O4    O4   -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI    O1
     SI    O2
     SI    O3
     SI    O4
     O1   -SI
     O2   -SI
     O3   +SI
     O4   +SI

As an aside-This means that each residue is not neutral as the charges  
cancel out over the entire molecule and not over a single residue-I am  
not sure of the implications of this.

To complicate matters, in my structure not all of the oxygens are  
bonded oxygens (i.e where each O is bonded to 2 silicons, some of the  
oxygens terminate in hydroxyl groups). This means that I have will  
have 3 types of terminal/starting chain

1. Si, O, O, OH
2. SI, O, OH, OH
3. SI, OH, OH, OH (the group which really does terminate)

Here are my terminal and starting residues:


; terminal residue 1 (3OH groups)
[ MCM_T1 ]
  [ atoms ]
    SI    SI     1.280     1
   OH1    OH1   -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
   OH2    OH2   -0.502     1
    H2    H2     0.206     1
   OH3    OH3   -0.502     1
    H3    H3     0.206     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI   OH2
     SI   OH3
     SI    O4
     OH1   H1
     OH2   H2
     OH3   H3
      O4  -SI

; terminal residue 2 (2 OH groups)
[ MCM_T2 ]
  [ atoms ]
   SI    SI     1.280     1
   OH1   OH1    -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
   OH2   OH2    -0.502     1
    H2    H2     0.206     1
    O3    O3    -0.640     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI   OH2
     SI    O3
     SI    O4
     OH1   H1
     OH2   H2
      O3  -SI
      O4  -SI


; terminal residue 3 (1 OH group)
[ MCM_T3 ]
  [ atoms ]
   SI   SI     1.280     1
   OH1   OH1    -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
    O2    O2    -0.640     1
    O3    O3    -0.640     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI    O2
     SI    O3
     SI    O4
     OH1    H1
      O2  -SI
      O3  -SI
      O4  -SI

As each of these groups could equally be starting groups-I have  
defined them as such by changing the minus sign to a plus

; starting residue 1
[ MCM_S1 ]
  [ atoms ]
   SI    SI    1.280     1
   OH1    OH1   -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
   OH2    OH2   -0.502     1
    H2    H2     0.206     1
   OH3    OH3   -0.502     1
    H3    H3     0.206     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI   OH2
     SI   OH3
     SI    O4
      O4  +SI

; starting residue 2
[ MCM_T2 ]
  [ atoms ]
   SI    SI     1.280     1
   OH1   OH1    -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
   OH2   OH2    -0.502     1
    H2    H2     0.206     1
    O3    O3    -0.640     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI   OH2
     SI    O3
     SI    O4
      O3  +SI
      O4  +SI


; starting residue 3
[ MCM_T3 ]
  [ atoms ]
   SI   SI     1.280     1
   OH1   OH1    -0.502     1
    H1    H1     0.206     1
    O2    O2    -0.640     1
    O3    O3    -0.640     1
    O4    O4    -0.640     1

   [ bonds ]
     SI   OH1
     SI    O2
     SI    O3
     SI    O4
      O2  +SI
      O3  +SI
      O4  +SI


There are a few problems with this:

1.	I don?t know how to go about splitting my large .pdb file into  
monomers. At the moment it is ordered by atomtype VMD doesn?t  
recognise my self- defined SiO2 tetrahedra as monomers so I can?t sort  
using that. There is no way I can do this manually by looking at the  
coordinates.

2.	Looking at the terminal residue 1 for example, I have defined the  
only non-bonded oxygen as O4-however it could equally be O1, O2 or  
O3-this leads to a number of possible combinations of my terminal and  
internal residues.

3.	There is in fact no such thing as a terminal residue (except in the  
case of Terminal residue 1 which is rare). It is more common to have a  
2 OH groups on a silicon meaning the other oxygens bond to further  
residues.

I can see how this method works nicely for a chain but having a four  
coordinate system really complicates things! I have run a very simple  
pdb file using pdb2gmx, the new .rtp file above and a handwritten .pdb  
file with 2 monomers.
The result is that pdb2gmx  is creating extra bonds between the  
Silicon of one monomer and the oxygen of the next meaning I am getting  
a 5-coordinate Silicon.

Pdb2gmx doesn?t seem to be able to distinguish based on bond distances  
which oxygens belong to which monomer. The only way I can see past  
this is a more elaborate naming system which would introduce yet more  
combinations.

So I?m throwing this out as a last resort before I give up. Has anyone  
had any success using this method for a similar system? Quartz?

Sorry for my rambling

Jenny



Quoting "Justin A. Lemkul" <jalemkul at vt.edu>:

>
>
> Jennifer Williams wrote:
>>
>> Hi Justin,
>>
>> Thanks for the reply. I am in fact studying one huge molecule. All   
>> of my atoms are bonded together in one large structure (kind of   
>> like a zeolite) so I have necessarily defined them as a single   
>> residue.
>>
>
> I would argue that you have a polymer, which can certainly be handled
> by pdb2gmx.  See below.
>
>> There is no way I can split this molecule into smaller subunits and  
>>  thus define a number of residues-it wouldn't make sense to do so.
>>
>
> If you have a lot of repetition, I would think it would be quite easy
> to split it apart.
>
>> Yes in my .rtp file I have only defined each atom type once. To   
>> define each and every atom in my one residue would mean defining   
>> 4284 atoms!
>>
>
> If you have a repeating structure, you have a polymer, so you can just
> decompose a repeat unit into a single .rtp entry.  That's the entire
> purpose of pdb2gmx, we certainly wouldn't want to create an .rtp entry
> for every single possible protein either!
>
> For more information, see here:
>
> http://www.gromacs.org/Documentation/How-tos/Polymers
>
>> I am having real trouble in creating topology files for my   
>> structure. At the moment, the only way I can do this is by using a   
>> tool in DL_POLY to create a field file and then manually change it   
>> to a .top file. This is really fiddely and I have a number of   
>> similar structures to do this for. I was hoping that I could do a   
>> similar step in Gromacs and get a .top file straight away-even if   
>> it means a bit more work setting it up.
>>
>> Is there any hope or is pdb2gmx simply not designed to work for   
>> this sort of system?
>>
>
> You can certainly use pdb2gmx, it is intended to be versatile so it can
> be used with any repeating structure of monomers, homogenous (like a
> repeating polymer) or heterogenous (like a protein).  See the link
> above.
>
> -Justin
>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jenny
>>
>>
>> Quoting "Justin A. Lemkul" <jalemkul at vt.edu>:
>>
>>> Quoting Jennifer Williams <Jennifer.Williams at ed.ac.uk>:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hello
>>>>
>>>> I am studying a mesoporous silica for which there is no topology in
>>>> gromacs-to try to automate the process of generating a topology file
>>>> (x2top doesn?t work), I am using pdb2gmx (or rather trying to).
>>>>
>>>> I have parameters for my silica structure and have added a new section
>>>> for my molecule to the .rtp file, .atp file, atommass.dat,
>>>> atom_nom.dbl, nb.itp and bon.itp files.
>>>>
>>>> The problem is that when I use my .pdb file to generate a topology,
>>>> pdb2gmx checks for duplicates and removes almost all of my atoms. It
>>>> leaves only one of each type. I should have a few hundred of each atom
>>>> type?here is the output from pdb2gmx?
>>>>
>>>> Analyzing pdb file
>>>> There are 1 chains and 0 blocks of water and 1 residues with 4284 atoms
>>>>   chain  #res #atoms
>>>>   1 ' '     1   4284
>>>> All occupancies are one
>>>>
>>>> All ok up to here?and then?.
>>>>
>>>> Processing chain 1 (4284 atoms, 1 residues)
>>>> There are 552 donors and 2580 acceptors
>>>> There are 1603 hydrogen bonds
>>>> Checking for duplicate atoms....
>>>> Now there are 4 atoms. Deleted 4280 duplicates.
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone explain why this is happening? ?none of my atoms have the
>>>> same coordinates. Is there a file that I have forgotten to alter?  Is
>>>> there is fix to turn off the checking of duplicate atoms? I don?t want
>>>> any of my atoms to be deleted!
>>>
>>> You have all of your atoms defined within one residue.  I'm   
>>> assuming  your .rtp
>>> entry contains the definition of a single repeat unit, so each   
>>> monomer should
>>> be a separate residue.  The coordinates don't matter, it's because  
>>>   within each
>>> residue, you have the same atom names, so pdb2gmx removes them   
>>> when it finds
>>> them.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Below I paste an extract of my pdb file?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I'm assuming you'll have to probably reconstruct this file to   
>>> re-organize the
>>> atoms to define continuous residues.  It appears they are grouped   
>>> by  atom name,
>>> which is probably not what you want.
>>>
>>> -Justin
>>>
>>>> CRYST1   46.421   43.630   75.838  90.00  90.00 120.00 P 1           1
>>>> ATOM      1  SI   MCM   1     -21.090  -1.951 -29.596  1.00  0.00  
>>>>           SI
>>>> ATOM      2  SI   MCM   1     -21.090  -1.951 -10.636  1.00  0.00  
>>>>           SI
>>>> ??..
>>>> ATOM   1153  O    MCM   1      20.602 -18.404 -20.904  1.00  0.00  
>>>>            O
>>>> ATOM   1154  O    MCM   1      20.602 -18.404  -1.945  1.00  0.00  
>>>>            O
>>>> ?
>>>> ATOM   3181  OH   MCM   1      -6.620 -18.769 -32.169  1.00  0.00
>>>> ATOM   3182  OH   MCM   1      -6.620 -18.769 -13.210  1.00  0.00
>>>> .....
>>>> ATOM   3733  H    MCM   1      -6.674 -18.381 -33.035  1.00  0.00  
>>>>            H
>>>> ATOM   3734  H    MCM   1      -6.616 -18.600 -14.144  1.00  0.00  
>>>>            H
>>>>
>>>> Any advice appreciated,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
>>>> Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ========================================
>>>
>>> Justin A. Lemkul
>>> Graduate Research Assistant
>>> Department of Biochemistry
>>> Virginia Tech
>>> Blacksburg, VA
>>> jalemkul at vt.edu | (540) 231-9080
>>> http://www.bevanlab.biochem.vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin/
>>>
>>> ========================================
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> gmx-users mailing list    gmx-users at gromacs.org
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>>> Please search the archive at http://www.gromacs.org/search before posting!
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dr. Jennifer Williams
>> Institute for Materials and Processes
>> School of Engineering
>> University of Edinburgh
>> Sanderson Building
>> The King's Buildings
>> Mayfield Road
>> Edinburgh, EH9 3JL, United Kingdom
>> Phone: ++44 (0)131 650 4 861
>>
>>
>
> -- 
> ========================================
>
> Justin A. Lemkul
> Ph.D. Candidate
> ICTAS Doctoral Scholar
> Department of Biochemistry
> Virginia Tech
> Blacksburg, VA
> jalemkul[at]vt.edu | (540) 231-9080
> http://www.bevanlab.biochem.vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin
>
> ========================================
> _______________________________________________
> gmx-users mailing list    gmx-users at gromacs.org
> http://lists.gromacs.org/mailman/listinfo/gmx-users
> Please search the archive at http://www.gromacs.org/search before posting!
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> interface or send it to gmx-users-request at gromacs.org.
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-- 
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.





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