PP7 virus-like particles in E. coli imaged with the crossed laser phase plate switched off (underfocus phase contrast, 2-3 µm)

Control dataset of the matched-grid crossed laser phase plate (xLPP) comparison: Escherichia coli cells overexpressing PP7 virus-like particles were imaged on the xLPP-equipped Titan Krios G4 with the laser phase plate switched off, using conventional underfocus phase contrast at 2-3 µm target underfocus. Dose-symmetric tilt series (±45°, 3° steps, ~126 e/Ų total) were collected with PACEtomo in SerialEM on a Gatan Celtic detector and processed with AreTomo3 (motion correction, CTF estimation, patch-based alignment, SART and WBP reconstruction); PP7 VLP positions were predicted with Octopi and curated by 2D classification.