The resolution revolution revisited

In this issue of IUCrJ, Subramaniam, Kühlbrandt & Henderson present an overview of the remarkable progress that has been made in electron cryo-microscopy and electron cryo-tomography.

Cryo-EM: the revolution continues

The increasing democratization and implementation of electron cryo-microscopy appears poised to drive a new revolution in digital structural biology.

Structural physiology of distinctive water channels elucidated by cryo-EM

Recent advances in single-particle cryo-electron microscopy have enabled a deeper understanding of the structural diversity and higher-order organization of aqua­porin complexes. These insights have important implications for disease biology and drug discovery.

How cryoEM has advanced our understanding of bacteriophages and bacteriocins targeting Clostridioides difficile

Two recent cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM) structures provide a unique opportunity to compare a bacteriophage and a bacteriocin targeted at the same host. CryoEM reveals the most detailed view of contractile injection systems interacting with Clostridioides difficile.

A picture is worth a thousand diffraction spots: using photometry and computer vision to perform rapid high-throughput sample-versatile serial crystallography

Computer vision algorithms are employed in situ to locate crystal targets for small-mol­ecule fixed-target crystallography. This methodology is shown to be significantly faster and of comparable data quality to previously published methods.

Phase relationships in homoleptic com­plexes of XeF₂

The com­pounds [M(XeF₂)₆][AF₆]₂, where M = Cu or Zn and A = As or Sb, contain unusual homoleptic com­plexes of XeF₂ which form a series of different phases under varying conditions of tem­per­a­ture and pressure. The phases are related to the CdCl₂ aristotype and are connected through symmetry-lowering reorientations of the cations and anions.

High-throughput inclined scanning three-dimensional X-ray diffraction microscopy via dual line–beam X-point scanning

We present a dual line–beam X-point scanning method for inclined scanning three-dimensional X-ray diffraction microscopy that significantly reduces measurement time while providing three-dimensional orientation maps com­parable to those ob­tained by conventional point–beam raster scanning.

Atomic structure and formation mechanism of a newly discovered charge density wave in the m = 2 monophosphate tungsten bronze

A charge density wave (CDW) instability is discovered in the m = 2 monophosphate tungsten bronze, with an incommensurate modulation q = 0.245b* + 0.02c* appearing at 290 K and locking in to the commensurate vector q = 0.25b* at 130 K. Diffraction, resistivity and diffuse/inelastic X-ray scattering jointly establish the transition mechanism, showing that lattice distortions dominate while the electronic CDW is only weakly coupled to the structural reorganization.

Continuous invariant-based asymmetries of periodic crystals qu­antify deviations from higher symmetry

New continuous invariant-based asymmetries quantify deviations of any periodic crystal from its closest higher-symmetry neighbour where all molecules are geometrically equivalent.

Drop-on-fixed-target reaction initiation approach for serial and time-resolved crystallography

The design and implementation of a strategy for a drop-on-fixed-target approach for time-resolved serial crystallography are described. The strategy has been tested at both synchrotron and XFEL facilities.

Defect structure of yttria-stabilized hafnia nanoparticles

Local disorder in nanoparticles of yttria-stabilized hafnia (YSH) is identified by combined powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. The aliovalent doping with Y³⁺ introduces oxygen vacancies that electrostatically distort the local coordination of the neighbouring ions, thus resulting in both vacancy disorder, mass disorder and displacive disorder in these otherwise well-crystalline YSH nanoparticles.

Atomic resolution cryo-EM at 200 keV

An atomic resolution of 1.24 Å was achieved on an upgraded 200 kV electron microscope featuring a cold field emission gun, a high-resolution objective lens polepiece and an energy filter. These com­ponents transform the instrument into a cost-effective single-particle cryo-EM platform with performance com­parable to that of significantly more expensive 300 kV systems.

A polar Fourier geometric approach to volume-free single-particle 3D reconstruction

We present a compact mathematical framework for ab initio single-particle 3D reconstruction that reformulates the inverse problem in polar Fourier coordinates, enabling direct orientation recovery from extremely noisy 2D projection images without explicit 3D density reconstruction.

Functional role of a tethered domain as a naturally fused cognate partner is demonstrated in a three-domain copper nitrite reductase

The combination of targeted mutations of a C-terminal cytochrome c tethered copper-containing nitrite reductase with functional studies and atomic resolution structures suggests complex roles of the tethered domain rather than simple fusion of a redox partner.

Cryo-EM-guided subtractive optimization of a novel VCP/p97 inhibitor

Our studies show that cryo-EM structure-guided optimization to eliminate the off-target liability of CB-5083 yields a potent and selective inhibitor of the AAA ATPase VCP/p97, a cancer target.

CryoEM structures reveal allosteric regulation of the catalytic activity of the multi-protein human MAT enzyme complexes

High-resolution cryoEM structures of MAT enzyme complexes help to explain why MATα1 selectively forms a stable complex with MATβV1 but not with MATβV2, despite sharing high sequence and structural identity with MATα2.

Towards time-resolved MicroED grid preparation using mix-and-inject gas dynamic virtual nozzles

This article establishes the feasibility of time-resolved microcrystal electron diffraction by using a microfluidic mixing device to deposit microcrystals onto electron microscopy grids during plunge-freezing. The resulting vitrified crystals were of sufficient quality to solve a model protein structure.

Cryo-EM analysis of cooperative conformational changes in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein trimer

Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein heterogeneity using cryo-EM data reveals cooperativity between receptor-binding domains.

Additive-driven microwave crystallization of tyramine polymorphs and salts: a quantum crystallography perspective. Corrigendum

The article by Grabowski et al. [(2025), IUCrJ, 12, 403–416] is corrected.