Y. Zhu et. al.
Automatic Particle Selection: Results of a "Bakeoff"
To appear in Journal of Structural Biology

Manual selection of single particles in images acquired using cryo-electron
microscopy (cryoEM) will become a significant bottleneck when data sets of a
hundred thousand or even a million particles are required for structure
determination at near atomic resolution. Algorithm development of fully
automated particle selection is thus an important research objective in the
cryoEM field. A number of research groups are making promising new advances in
this area. Evaluation of alternative algorithms using a standard set of cryoEM
images is an important aspect of this algorithm development. With this goal in
mind, a particle selection  bakeoff  was included in the program of the
workshop: Multidisciplinary Workshop on Automatic Particle Selection for
cryoEM. Twelve groups participated by submitting the results of testing their
own algorithms on a common dataset. The dataset consisted of images of about
1000 keyhole limpet hemocyanin particles. The results of the bakeoff are
presented in the paper along with a summary of the discussion from the
workshop. It was agreed that establishing benchmark particles and using
bakeoffs to evaluate algorithms are useful in promoting algorithm development
for fully automated particle selection, and that the infrastructure set up to
support the bakeoff should be maintained and extended to include larger and
more varied datasets and more criteria for future evaluations.