Fig. 8: The distributions of 6HBC conformations.

a Superimposition of 120 IPET structural models viewed from two perpendicular perspectives, with sequences color-coded in a rainbow gradient from the 5′ to 3′ end. b RMSD distribution of IPET structures in terms of they against the SPA structures of “young” (X-axis) and “mature” (Y-axis) conformations. c 2D hierarchical clustering tree diagram based on their RMSD values, using Ward’s minimum variance method (see Methods section). The RMSD is calculated between each pair of structures, including the two SPA structures (PDB IDs: 7PTK and 7PTL, corresponding to “young” and “mature” conformations³³) for comparison. The treemap illustrates the distances as the particle RMSD value relative to all others. Nine representative structures are shown alongside their corresponding indices. d 1D spectrum diagram from hierarchical clustering analysis of RMSD values. Structures obtained at a dose of 168 e⁻Å⁻² are marked with black circles/rectangles (particles #36-120), those at 120 e⁻Å⁻² in red (particles #17-35), at 107 e⁻Å⁻² in cyan (particles #12–16), and at 54 e⁻Å⁻² in yellow (particles #1–11). The “young” and “mature” conformations are labeled in “medium aquamarine” and “polo blue,” respectively. Particles highlighted by green and blue disks/rectangle were used for local subtomogram averaging tests (detailed in the Methods section).