tacoxNA

tacoxDNA (Tools and Converters for oxDNA) is a collection of tools initially developed to help oxDNA users. However, it will soon be expanded so as to support additional models. If you use tacoxDNA, please consider citing the following article:

A. Suma, E. Poppleton, M. Matthies, P. Šulc, F. Romano, A. A. Louis, J. P. K. Doye, C. Micheletti and L. Rovigatti, "TacoxDNA: A user‐friendly web server for simulations of complex DNA structures, from single strands to origami", J. Comput. Chem. 40, 2586 (2019)

Requirements

• Python 3 (any version should work). If you want to stick to Python 2 check out the corresponding branch.
• numpy

Tools

The sections that follow introduce the tools and their usage.

• Generator for twisted and knotted configurations
• oxDNA-to-LAMMPS converter
• LAMMPS-to-oxDNA converter
• oxDNA-to-PDB converter
• PDB-to-oxDNA converter
• cadnano-to-oxDNA converter
• CanDo-to-oxDNA converter
• Tiamat-to-oxDNA converter
• vHelix-to-oxDNA converter
• rpoly-to-oxDNA converter
• scadnano-to-oxDNA converter

Generator for twisted and knotted configurations

The XYZ_oxDNA.py script generates an oxDNA topology/configuration pair from a file containing a list of coordinates that defines a centerline.

Mandatory arguments

• A centerline file containing a list of coordinates in the format x y z

Optional arguments

• -c\--closed the last bead is connected to the first bead (default)
• -o\--open the last bead is not connected to the first bead
• -h\--help print usage
• -d\--dsDNA the chain is clad with a double-stranded DNA (default)
• -s\--ssDNA the chain is clad with a single-stranded DNA
• -n\--nicked optional argument when -d option is used. One of the two strands of double strand DNA is nicked (not circularized) (not set by default)
• -p\--supercoiling=SUPERCOILING_DENSITY supercoiling density percentage (defaults to 0, with an equilibrium pitch of 10.5 imposed)
• -w\--writhe=WRITHE_AMOUNT topological target writhe to superimpose. When the supercoiling density is zero, this number corresponds to the average writhe. Useful for knots which have an average writhe different from 0 (it defaults to 0)
• -e\--seed=RNG_SEED random seed for DNA sequence (defaults to a random value)
• -q\--sequence=SEQUENCE text file containing a valid DNA sequence (e.g. ATCTGA). The length of the sequence should correspond to the number of points in the coordinate file. If not specified, the sequence will be chosen randomly

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the centerline file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the centerline file with ".oxdna")

oxDNA-to-LAMMPS converter

The oxDNA_LAMMPS.py script takes two mandatory arguments and outputs a single file that can be used as input to run oxDNA simulations USER-CGDNA LAMMPS package.

Arguments

• An oxDNA topology file
• An oxDNA configuration file

Output

• A file containing the list of nucleotide positions, quaternions, velocities, angular velocities and bonds which can be used as a start file in LAMMPS. The name of the file is just the oxDNA configuration filename, prefixed with "LAMMPS_"

LAMMPS-to-oxDNA converter

The LAMMPS_oxDNA.py script takes one mandatory argument, one optional argument and outputs two files.

Arguments

• A LAMMPS data file, containing the nucleotide positions, quaternions, velocities, angular momenta and the bond list
• Optionally, a LAMMPS trajectory file with atom data for each time step after the data file name

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the LAMMPS output file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the LAMMPS output file with ".oxdna"). If a trajectory file is also processed, the configuration file will contain the full trajectory data in native oxDNA format.

oxDNA-to-PDB converter

The oxDNA_PDB.py script takes three mandatory arguments and outputs a single file. Since oxDNA bases has no one-to-one explicit mapping to all-atom representations, the converted structure will most likely require some sort of relaxation procedure before being used as input for all-atom simulation packages. Moreover, when using this script the following points should be taken into account:

• the phosphate groups of nucleobases at the 5' end of each strand are removed
• a hydrogen is added to each of the 3' and 5' end nucleobases (HO3' and HO5', respectively)

Mandatory arguments

• An oxDNA topology file
• An oxDNA configuration file
• The direction according to which the nucleotides are to be listed in the PDB file. It should be either 35 (for 3' -> 5') or 53 (for 5' -> 3'). Most of the all-atoms tools (e.g. GROMACS) assume the 5' -> 3' order.

Optional arguments

• -H, --hydrogens=[true|false] if true, include hydrogen atoms in the PDB file (defaults to true)
• -u\--uniform-residue-names drop the 3 and 5 suffixes from the names of residues that are placed at the strands' ends. It increases the compatibility with some tools (e.g. Chimera and Molecular Maya)
• -o\--one-file-per-strand print one PDB file for each strand
• --rmsf-file write rmsf data per residue from the compute_deviations command of the oxDNA Analysis Tools to the output PDB bfactor field

Output

• A PDB file containing the positions of all atoms composing the strand(s) contained in the oxDNA configuration file

PDB-to-oxDNA converter

The PDB_oxDNA.py script takes two mandatory arguments. Given the sometimes messy nature of PDB files, the script makes some choices during the parsing of the input file. In particular, note the following points:

• if the PDB file contains more than one MODEL, only the first one will be converted unless the -m/--models-as-strands option is given
• if the PDB file contains alternate locations for some (or all) of the atoms, only those marked with either "1" or "A" will be considered. If the PDB file uses a different notation, the script may fail or crash
• sometimes, sugar atoms are marked with asterisks (*) instead of single quotes ('). In these cases the converter replaces the former with the latter and moves on

Mandatory arguments

• The input PDB file
• The direction according to which the nucleotides are listed in the PDB file. It should be either 35 (for 3' -> 5') or 53 (for 5' -> 3').

Optional arguments

• -m, --models-as-strands Treat different models as different strands

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the PDB file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the PDB file with ".oxdna")

cadnano-to-oxDNA converter

The cadnano_oxDNA.py script converts cadnano files into oxDNA configurations. Optionally, it can also output .oxview files which will contain additional information about base pairing, custom colors and clustered domains.

Note that the script does not support scaffold-less input files. It takes two mandatory arguments.

Mandatory arguments

• The input cadnano file (in json format)
• The lattice type the file was designed with. It should be either sq (square) or he (hexagonal)

Optional arguments

• -e\--seed=RNG_SEED random seed for DNA sequence (defaults to a random value)
• -b\--box=VALUE the length of the box side (in oxDNA simulation units) where the system will be placed
• -q\--sequence=SEQUENCE text file containing a valid DNA sequence (e.g. ATCTGA). If not specified, the sequence will be chosen randomly
• -p\--print-virt2-nuc print the virt2nuc file that can be used by the oxDNA's origami_utils.py script to convert between cadnano and oxDNA nucleotide indexes
• -o\--print-oxview print a .oxview file that can be opened and edited in oxView. Using this option will allow you to keep additional design information not included in the oxDNA files.

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the cadnano file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the cadnano file with ".oxdna")

CanDo-to-oxDNA converter

The CanDo_oxDNA.py script converts CanDo files into oxDNA configurations. It takes one mandatory argument.

Mandatory arguments

• The input CanDo file

Optional arguments

• -b\--box=VALUE the length of the box side (in oxDNA simulation units) where the system will be placed (defaults to 100)
• -f\--print-force-file also print a file containing the specifics for a oxDNA-compatible set of external forces that may be useful to relax the system

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the CanDo file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the CanDo file with ".oxdna")

Tiamat-to-oxDNA converter

The Tiamat_oxDNA.py script converts Tiamat files into oxDNA configurations. It takes one mandatory argument.

Mandatory arguments

• The input Tiamat file (in json format)

Optional arguments

• -m\--molecule=[DNA|RNA] the type of molecule contained in the input file (defaults to DNA)
• -t\--tiamat-version=[1|2] the Tiamat version the input file was generated with. If you are not sure, it's probably 2, the default value
• -d\--default-base=[A|C|G|T|R|integer] some of the bases generated by Tiamat have no associated type. By default, these bases are assigned a random type (either A, C, G or T). By setting this option the user can assign to these bases the same type. Since oxDNA can also use integer numbers as types, these are also supported here
• -f\--print-force-file also print a file containing the specifics for a oxDNA-compatible set of external forces that may be useful to relax the system
• -o\--print-oxview print a .oxview file that can be opened and edited in oxView. Using this option will allow you to keep basepair information not included in the oxDNA files.

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the Tiamat file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the Tiamat file with ".oxdna")

vHelix-to-oxDNA converter

The vHelix_oxDNA.py script converts vHelix files into oxDNA configurations. vhelix files are Maya files stored in the MA format. It takes one mandatory argument.

Mandatory arguments

• The input vHelix file

Optional arguments

• -b\--box=VALUE the length of the box side (in oxDNA simulation units) where the system will be placed (defaults to 100)
• -e\--seed=RNG_SEED random seed (defaults to a random value). Random vectors are used whenever the input configuration contains deleted nucleotides.

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the vHelix file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the vHelix file with ".oxdna")

rpoly-to-oxDNA converter

The rpoly_oxDNA.py script converts routed polyhedra (rpoly) files containing wireframe DNA origami structures automatically generated using the BSCOR package(http://www.vhelix.net/) into oxDNA configurations. It takes one mandatory argument. Optionally, it can output .oxview files which will also contain basepairs, as well as clusters for each helix.

Mandatory arguments

• The input rpoly file

Optional arguments

• -e\--seed=RNG_SEED random seed for DNA sequence (defaults to a random value)
• -o\--print-oxview print a .oxview file that can be opened and edited in oxView. Using this option will allow you to keep additional design information not included in the oxDNA files.

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the rpoly file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the rpoly file with ".oxdna")

scadnano-to-oxDNA converter

The scadnano_oxDNA.py script converts scadnano designs to oxDNA configurations.

Mandatory arguments

• The input scadnano design file

Output

• An oxDNA topology file (named by suffixing the scadnano file with ".top")
• An oxDNA configuration file (named by suffixing the scadnano file with ".oxdna")

Testing

tacoxDNA contains a very simple testing suite to verify the working status of the scripts. The tests directory contains a directory for each script. Within each directory there is a run.sh bash script that performs one or more tests on the specific script. Execute run_all.sh to run all tests and get a summary of the results.

Acknowledgements

• Some of the code has been adapted from the oxDNA source
• The vHelix-to-oxDNA converter was provided by Erik Benson
• The source of code of the pyquaternion lib is included in the source tree