Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography

In cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of biological samples, the quality of tomographic reconstructions can vary depending on the transmission electron microscope (TEM) instrument and data acquisition parameters. In this paper, we present Parakeet, a ‘digital twin’ software pipeline for the assessme...

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Main Authors: James M. Parkhurst, Maud Dumoux, Mark Basham, Daniel Clare, C. Alistair Siebert, Trond Varslot, Angus Kirkland, James H. Naismith, Gwyndaf Evans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2021-10-01
Series:Open Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.210160
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author James M. Parkhurst
Maud Dumoux
Mark Basham
Daniel Clare
C. Alistair Siebert
Trond Varslot
Angus Kirkland
James H. Naismith
Gwyndaf Evans
author_facet James M. Parkhurst
Maud Dumoux
Mark Basham
Daniel Clare
C. Alistair Siebert
Trond Varslot
Angus Kirkland
James H. Naismith
Gwyndaf Evans
author_sort James M. Parkhurst
collection DOAJ
description In cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of biological samples, the quality of tomographic reconstructions can vary depending on the transmission electron microscope (TEM) instrument and data acquisition parameters. In this paper, we present Parakeet, a ‘digital twin’ software pipeline for the assessment of the impact of various TEM experiment parameters on the quality of three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions. The Parakeet digital twin is a digital model that can be used to optimize the performance and utilization of a physical instrument to enable in silico optimization of sample geometries, data acquisition schemes and instrument parameters. The digital twin performs virtual sample generation, TEM image simulation, and tilt series reconstruction and analysis within a convenient software framework. As well as being able to produce physically realistic simulated cryo-ET datasets to aid the development of tomographic reconstruction and subtomogram averaging programs, Parakeet aims to enable convenient assessment of the effects of different microscope parameters and data acquisition parameters on reconstruction quality. To illustrate the use of the software, we present the example of a quantitative analysis of missing wedge artefacts on simulated planar and cylindrical biological samples and discuss how data collection parameters can be modified for cylindrical samples where a full 180° tilt range might be measured.
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spelling doaj.art-70cf5223a322452fb78cf195613878252023-07-06T16:15:24ZengThe Royal SocietyOpen Biology2046-24412021-10-01111010.1098/rsob.210160Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomographyJames M. Parkhurst0Maud Dumoux1Mark Basham2Daniel Clare3C. Alistair Siebert4Trond Varslot5Angus Kirkland6James H. Naismith7Gwyndaf Evans8Rosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKRosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKRosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKDiamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UKDiamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, UKThermo Fisher Scientific, Vlastimila Pecha, Brno, Czech RepublicRosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKRosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKRosalind Franklin Institute, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0FA, UKIn cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) of biological samples, the quality of tomographic reconstructions can vary depending on the transmission electron microscope (TEM) instrument and data acquisition parameters. In this paper, we present Parakeet, a ‘digital twin’ software pipeline for the assessment of the impact of various TEM experiment parameters on the quality of three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions. The Parakeet digital twin is a digital model that can be used to optimize the performance and utilization of a physical instrument to enable in silico optimization of sample geometries, data acquisition schemes and instrument parameters. The digital twin performs virtual sample generation, TEM image simulation, and tilt series reconstruction and analysis within a convenient software framework. As well as being able to produce physically realistic simulated cryo-ET datasets to aid the development of tomographic reconstruction and subtomogram averaging programs, Parakeet aims to enable convenient assessment of the effects of different microscope parameters and data acquisition parameters on reconstruction quality. To illustrate the use of the software, we present the example of a quantitative analysis of missing wedge artefacts on simulated planar and cylindrical biological samples and discuss how data collection parameters can be modified for cylindrical samples where a full 180° tilt range might be measured.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.210160digital twinelectron microscopytomographymultislice simulation
spellingShingle James M. Parkhurst
Maud Dumoux
Mark Basham
Daniel Clare
C. Alistair Siebert
Trond Varslot
Angus Kirkland
James H. Naismith
Gwyndaf Evans
Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
Open Biology
digital twin
electron microscopy
tomography
multislice simulation
title Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
title_full Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
title_fullStr Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
title_full_unstemmed Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
title_short Parakeet: a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo-electron tomography
title_sort parakeet a digital twin software pipeline to assess the impact of experimental parameters on tomographic reconstructions for cryo electron tomography
topic digital twin
electron microscopy
tomography
multislice simulation
url https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.210160
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