1GMX-SPATIAL(1) GROMACS GMX-SPATIAL(1)
2
3
4
6 gmx-spatial - Calculate the spatial distribution function
7
9 gmx spatial [-s [<.tpr/.gro/...>]] [-f [<.xtc/.trr/...>]] [-n [<.ndx>]]
10 [-b <time>] [-e <time>] [-dt <time>] [-[no]w] [-[no]pbc]
11 [-[no]div] [-ign <int>] [-bin <real>] [-nab <int>]
12
14 gmx spatial calculates the spatial distribution function and outputs it
15 in a form that can be read by VMD as Gaussian98 cube format. For a
16 system of 32,000 atoms and a 50 ns trajectory, the SDF can be generated
17 in about 30 minutes, with most of the time dedicated to the two runs
18 through trjconv that are required to center everything properly. This
19 also takes a whole bunch of space (3 copies of the trajectory file).
20 Still, the pictures are pretty and very informative when the fitted
21 selection is properly made. 3-4 atoms in a widely mobile group (like a
22 free amino acid in solution) works well, or select the protein backbone
23 in a stable folded structure to get the SDF of solvent and look at the
24 time-averaged solvation shell. It is also possible using this program
25 to generate the SDF based on some arbitrary Cartesian coordinate. To do
26 that, simply omit the preliminary gmx trjconv steps.
27
28 Usage:
29
30 1. Use gmx make_ndx to create a group containing the atoms around which
31 you want the SDF
32
33 2. gmx trjconv -s a.tpr -f a.tng -o b.tng -boxcenter tric -ur compact
34 -pbc none
35
36 3. gmx trjconv -s a.tpr -f b.tng -o c.tng -fit rot+trans
37
38 4. run gmx spatial on the c.tng output of step #3.
39
40 5. Load grid.cube into VMD and view as an isosurface.
41
42 Note that systems such as micelles will require gmx trjconv -pbc clus‐
43 ter between steps 1 and 2.
44
45 Warnings
46 The SDF will be generated for a cube that contains all bins that have
47 some non-zero occupancy. However, the preparatory -fit rot+trans
48 option to gmx trjconv implies that your system will be rotating and
49 translating in space (in order that the selected group does not).
50 Therefore the values that are returned will only be valid for some
51 region around your central group/coordinate that has full overlap with
52 system volume throughout the entire translated/rotated system over the
53 course of the trajectory. It is up to the user to ensure that this is
54 the case.
55
56 Risky options
57 To reduce the amount of space and time required, you can output only
58 the coords that are going to be used in the first and subsequent run
59 through gmx trjconv. However, be sure to set the -nab option to a suf‐
60 ficiently high value since memory is allocated for cube bins based on
61 the initial coordinates and the -nab option value.
62
64 Options to specify input files:
65
66 -s [<.tpr/.gro/…>] (topol.tpr)
67 Structure+mass(db): tpr gro g96 pdb brk ent
68
69 -f [<.xtc/.trr/…>] (traj.xtc)
70 Trajectory: xtc trr cpt gro g96 pdb tng
71
72 -n [<.ndx>] (index.ndx) (Optional)
73 Index file
74
75 Other options:
76
77 -b <time> (0)
78 Time of first frame to read from trajectory (default unit ps)
79
80 -e <time> (0)
81 Time of last frame to read from trajectory (default unit ps)
82
83 -dt <time> (0)
84 Only use frame when t MOD dt = first time (default unit ps)
85
86 -[no]w (no)
87 View output .xvg, .xpm, .eps and .pdb files
88
89 -[no]pbc (no)
90 Use periodic boundary conditions for computing distances
91
92 -[no]div (yes)
93 Calculate and apply the divisor for bin occupancies based on
94 atoms/minimal cube size. Set as TRUE for visualization and as
95 FALSE (-nodiv) to get accurate counts per frame
96
97 -ign <int> (-1)
98 Do not display this number of outer cubes (positive values may
99 reduce boundary speckles; -1 ensures outer surface is visible)
100
101 -bin <real> (0.05)
102 Width of the bins (nm)
103
104 -nab <int> (4)
105 Number of additional bins to ensure proper memory allocation
106
108 · When the allocated memory is not large enough, a segmentation fault
109 may occur. This is usually detected and the program is halted prior
110 to the fault while displaying a warning message suggesting the use of
111 the -nab (Number of Additional Bins) option. However, the program
112 does not detect all such events. If you encounter a segmentation
113 fault, run it again with an increased -nab value.
114
116 gmx(1)
117
118 More information about GROMACS is available at <‐
119 http://www.gromacs.org/>.
120
122 2019, GROMACS development team
123
124
125
126
1272019.4 Oct 02, 2019 GMX-SPATIAL(1)