Info
Coot is the dominant open-source software for macromolecular model building and validation, used in both X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. Created by Paul Emsley (originally at York, now at MRC-LMB Cambridge). Free software, GPLv3. Part of the CCP4 ecosystem; integrates with PHENIX and ChimeraX.
People
| Name | Role | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Emsley | Primary author / lead developer | MRC-LMB Cambridge |
| Kevin Cowtan | Co-developer (Clipper library) | University of York |
| Bernhard Lohkamp | Contributor | Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm |
| Ana Casanal | Contributor (cryo-EM features) | MRC-LMB |
| Garib Murshudov | Group leader (Computational Crystallography) | MRC-LMB |
| Eugene Krissinel | Contributor | CCP4 / STFC |
Funding
- MRC (MC_U105184330, MC_U105192715, MC_UP_A025_1012)
- EU Horizon 2020 / FP7 Marie Curie
- EMBO fellowship (ALTF66-2015, for Casanal)
Key Relationships
- Distributed as part of CCP4 suite
- Deep integration with PHENIX via Python interface
- Paul Emsley is a CCP4 developer and contributor
- Garib Murshudov (REFMAC5 refinement) is Emsley’s group leader at MRC-LMB
- Interactive model building also available via ChimeraX ISOLDE plugin (Tristan Croll, which competes/complements Coot)
- Validation tools overlap with MolProbity
Key Reference
Emsley & Cowtan, Acta Cryst D60, 2126-2132 (2004) Casanal et al., Protein Science 29, 1069-1078 (2020)