Bacteriophage ΦKZ is a massive bacterial virus with potential as a therapy for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which forms a bacteriophage nucleus in infected cells to exclude the host immune system, and transcribes its genes with its own, non-canonical multi-subunit RNA polymerase. The structure of this polymerase in the process of binding an analogue of its cognate promoter is resolved, revealing an unanticipated method of promoter consensus recognition involving the β-like, rather than the σ-factor-like subunit.

This study presents the crystal structure of human rhinovirus (hRV)-B14 3C protease bound to AG7404, a broad-spectrum antiviral inhibitor, at a resolution of 2.11 Å. Antiviral assays and in silico studies provide structural insights into AG7404's efficacy and binding mechanism against hRV-B14, hRV-A16 and hRV-A21 3C proteases.

An advanced X-ray ptychography system has been developed that facilitates nanoscale imaging across both tender and hard X-ray regions using a single optical setup.

The development of methods for low-cost time-resolved cryo-EM using an on-grid mixing strategy is described.

Electrostatic potential maps of proteins are calculated at various resolutions using the transferable aspherical atom model (TAAM) to determine the relations between the electrostatic potential and resolution for different atom types.

The influence of the X-ray step size on radiation damage occurring in serial data collection from a metalloprotein using sheet-on-sheet fixed-target chips was investigated at fourth-generation synchrotron and XFEL beamlines.

The room-temperature structure of Sr2FeIrO6, a double perovskite with notable magnetic and structural properties, has been debated extensively. Our high-resolution and high-pressure synchrotron-based powder X-ray diffraction findings provide compelling evidence to reconcile these divergent positions, laying groundwork for future research.

Thortveitite-related Fe2P2O7 shows three reversible phase transitions and has an incommensurately modulated crystal structure at room temperature.

Seven venetoclax solvates were structurally characterized and studied for their desolvation behaviour, leading to the identification of two solvent-free polymorphs. Advanced crystallographic and computational analyses, including Solvate Analyser, CSD-Particle, FTIR and solid-state NMR, revealed key factors governing solvate stability and transformation. Notably, the acetone solvate exhibited exceptional stability and the desolvated forms retained the molecular arrangement of their parent solvates.

Structural analysis of the co-crystal between human DNA glycosylase hOGG1 and a light-sensitive substrate analog highlights its utility as a platform for real-time observation of catalytic dynamics.

We demonstrate the application of a nitric oxide releasing photocage system for time-resolved serial crystallography studies of two heme containing proteins using a fixed target sample delivery system. Optimal parameters for successful photocage activation and nitric oxide release are explored.

Electron cryo-tomography of ATP synthase dimers in plant mitochondria indicates a wide dimer angle and a plant-specific subunit in the peripheral stalk.

A new satellite is discovered in the manganese Kβ spectrum using extended-range high-energy-resolution fluorescence detection. Advanced insights on its structure and evolution are extracted with principal component analysis.

Selective nuclear spin reversal by the method of adiabatic fast passage is a way to order a system of dynamically polarized nuclei. Using polarized neutron scattering, it increases the visibility of sources and sinks of proton polarization in radical proteins. Notably, Tyr369 has been confirmed as a potential radical site in bovine liver catalase.

This study identifies carbon crystal structures as 4-degree quotient graphs and proposes a novel approach for generating 3D 4-coordinate networks using 2D (2+1)-regular bipartite-like graphs. Through a random group and graph theory (RG2) method, we discover 509 new structures, including two low-energy phases (Pbam48 and Pbam40) that exhibit exceptional stability and potential applications as superhard carbon and quasi-direct band gap silicon materials in mechanical processing and solar photovoltaic technologies.

Quasicrystals are long-range-ordered materials with rotational symmetry incompatible with periodicity. Takakura et al. [(2025). IUCrJ 12, 435–443] present a study of a single grain of icosahedrite, the first natural icosahedral quasicrystal, which was found in a meteorite in 2009. Through detailed analysis of the diffraction peaks, they conclude that natural AlCuFe is an icosahedral quasicrystal superimposed by a phasonic modulation along the fivefold directions, which is similar to that observed in the synthetic quasicrystal. Based on knowledge of the synthesis and phase stability of icosahedral AlCuFe, they discuss the formation of icosahedrite in the meteorite.

This work demonstrates that high-quality ultra-fast total scattering data and pair distribution function data can be obtained from a single ∼30 fs pulse at the European XFEL, achieving a record Q range of up to 16.6 Å−1. These results establish XFELs as powerful tools for probing atomic scale structures on ultra-fast timescales, opening new opportunities for studying dynamic processes in disordered and complex materials.

Engineered in crystallo photosensitivity in a DNA-repair enzyme is carefully assessed for its suitability as a target for time-resolved crystallographic studies.

Crystallization is a fundamental non-equilibrium process in materials science, yet its early transient states remain difficult to probe experimentally. Möller et al. [(2025). IUCrJ 12, 462–471] use femtosecond X-ray scattering and X-ray cross-correlation analysis to reveal the structural evolution of defect-containing crystals forming in a supercooled noble-gas liquid.

Vitreous sectioning (CEMOVIS) is an alternative to FIB milling for generating thin samples suitable for cryo-EM imaging. We show that CEMOVIS samples preserve the high-resolution structural details of macromolecular complexes such as the 60S ribosome, despite the visible macroscopic damage visible in the samples.

A set of crystallographic structures has been obtained for the small antiviral protein LCB2 using molecular replacement models from six different structure-prediction programs. This set of structures can be interpreted as a multiconformer ensemble, improving quality metrics and offering an interesting insight into side-chain dynamics.