PyETV: a PyMOL evolutionary trace viewer to analyze functional site predictions in protein complexes.

Abstract

PyETV is a PyMOL plugin for viewing, analyzing and manipulating predictions of evolutionarily important residues and sites in protein structures and their complexes. It seamlessly captures the output of the Evolutionary Trace server, namely ranked importance of residues, for multiple chains of a complex. It then yields a high resolution graphical interface showing their distribution and clustering throughout a quaternary structure, including at interfaces. Together with other tools in the popular PyMOL viewer, PyETV thus provides a novel tool to integrate evolutionary forces into the design of experiments targeting the most functionally relevant sites of a protein. The PyETV module is written in Python. Installation instructions and video demonstrations may be found at the URL http://mammoth.bcm.tmc.edu/traceview/HelpDocs/PyETVHelp/pyInstructions.html. lichtarge@bcm.tmc.edu.