Improved low-resolution crystallographic refinement with Phenix and Rosetta

Refinement of macromolecular structures against low-resolution crystallographic data is limited by the ability of current methods to converge on a structure with realistic geometry. We developed a low-resolution crystallographic refinement method that combines the Rosetta sampling methodology and energy function with reciprocal-space X-ray refinement in Phenix. On a set of difficult low-resolution cases, the method yielded improved model geometry and lower free R factors than alternate refinement methods.