Nov. 1, 1999

This distribution contains the source code, documentation, example files,
and binary executables for Freehelix98 by Richard E. Dickerson. The source
code is in Fortran77 and has been translated from VMS to UNIX. It has been
tested on DEC Alpha running OSF1 and Intel x86 running Linux. Executables
for these two systems are included in the bin subdirectory. Source code
and executables are also included for the accompanying program Sel98,
which selects the most frequently used data from the Freehelix output.

Instructions for Freehelix98 can be found in freehel.tex. Running
Freehelix98 requires two input files (test.com is the example file), a
command file invoking Freehelix and feeding it parameters through standard
input, and a file containing PDB coordinates of the duplex (test.inp is
the example file). Coordinate files containing only one strand and
containing symmetry operators for construction of the second strand must
first be converted to a PDB file containing the entire duplex.

Please cite :
  (1) Richard E. Dickerson. "DNA bending: the prevalence of kinkiness and
      the virtues of normality." Nucleic Acids Research, 1998 Apr 15, 26(8):1906-26.
  (2) Richard E. Dickerson and Thang Kien Chiu. "Helix bending as a factor in
      protein/DNA recognition." Biopolymers, 1997, 44(4):361-403.


If you have any questions regarding installation or use of Freehelix,
please contact us. Thank you.


Ho Leung Ng  ng@mbi.ucla.edu
Thang Chiu   thang@mbi.ucla.edu
Richard Dickerson  red@mbi.ucla.edu