Manual

The following sections briefly describe how to run DATMOW from the command- line, the required input and runtime output

Introduction

DATMOW estimates the molecular weight (MW) for proteins based on the apparent volume method (Fischer et al., 2010). The method is based on the Porod Equation (cf. DATPOROD), however, the \(Q\) integral is not calculated to infinity, but intentionally truncated at \(s_max\):

\[Q' = \int_0^{s_{max}} s^2 \cdot I(s) ds\]

where the scattering curve is completed in the range \(0 \le s \lt s(\text{first})\) by extrapolation using the Guinier approximation, using the \(R_g\) value provided by the user.

With \(Q'\), an apparent volume \(V'\) may be calculated, equivalent to the Porod Volume:

\[V' = 2 \pi^2 I(0) / Q'\]

This apparent volume estimate \(V'\) may then be mapped to a molecular weight estimate using an empirical calibration as described in the reference.

Running datmow

Usage:

$ datmow [OPTIONS] <SASDATA(s)>

OPTIONS known by DATMOW are described in the next section, the required argument SASDATA file(s) in the section on input files.

Command-Line Arguments and Options

DATMOW requires the following command line arguments:

Argument Description
SASDATA(S) One or more experimental SAS data (.dat) or regularised SAS data (.out) files.

Absolute as well as relative paths to data files are accepted. Instead of a file name, one of the arguments may be given as ‘-‘ to read regularised SAS data (.out) from stdin.

DATMOW recognizes the following command-line options:

Short option Long option Description
  --i0=<VALUE> Forward scattering intensity (I(0))
  --rg=<VALUE> Radius of gyration (Rg)
  --first=<N> Index of the first data point to use. Default: 1.
-u --unit=<u|1|2|3|4> Define angular units of the experimental SAS data (.dat) or regularised SAS data (.out) files.
-v --version Print a summary of arguments, options, and exit.
-h --help Print usage information and exit.

Runtime output

DATMOW output consists of result lines for each input file with the following values: smax (\(\AA^{-1}\)), Q’, V’ (apparent volume), V (Volume, \(\AA^3\)), MW (Da), file name.

datmow input files

DATMOW expects background-subtracted experimental SAS data (.dat) or regularised SAS data (.out) files.

If SASDATA is a regularised SAS data (.out) file, reciprocal space \(R_g\) and \(I(0)\) stated in the file are used, but may be overridden by the corresponding command-line options.

The options --i0, --rg, --first and --unit are applied identically to all simultaneous input files.

Examples

Molecular Weight estimate from experimental SAS data (.dat); values for --rg, --i0 and --first from AUTORG.

$ datmow --rg=15.0 --i0=6.47 --first=2 lyzexp.dat
   0.451733       0.953803E-03    20695.3        14002.3        11552.4     lyzexp.dat

Here the Molecular Weight is calculated to 11552 Da.

Molecular Weight from regularised SAS data (.out); values for --rg, --i0 are taken from the .out file.

$ datmow ly01.out
   0.451700       0.934577E-03    21121.0        14369.3        11855.2     ly01.out

Here the Molecular Weight is calculated to 11855 Da.