Phasing protein structures using the group–subgroup relation

Diffraction data from two non-isomorphous crystals (forms 1 and 2) of an artificial protein with a four-helix bundle motif, di-CoII-DF1-L13A, have been collected using synchrotron radiation. The phase of form 1 has been assigned using the group and minimal non-isomorphic supergroup relation between the space group of the previously determined di-MnII-DF1-L13G structure and the space group of this form. This unconventional method of solving the phase problem has also been tested with form 2 using a reverse relation. The structure of the latter form has been solved using the group and maximal non-isomorphic subgroup relation with the space group of form 2 of the analogous dimanganese protein. This application has shown that this phasing method can be used for solving the protein structures of polymorphic crystals as an alternative to the molecular-replacement method.