[wwPDB] Reuse Metadata from Previous PDB Depositions

Many structural biologists deposit multiple related entries: mutants, ligand-bound forms, re-refinements, or follow-up EM maps from the same project. Re-entering authors, citations, funding, macromolecules information and experimental details for each new deposition is repetitive and error-prone.

The wwPDB OneDep deposition system has long offered a “Based on a previous wwPDB deposition” option on the File upload page. This feature has been substantially refactored and improved to make metadata reuse faster, more selective, and more reliable across X-ray, NMR, and EM depositions.

In order to use this feature, depositors need to provide the previous deposition ID (with its password, or by using ORCID authentication), choose which metadata categories to copy, and upload new files as usual. Selected mmCIF metadata is merged into the new entry before annotation. The upload Summary page then shows what was imported, skipped, or blocked. The previous entry must be deposited at the same wwPDB site as the current entry.

Key improvements include:

• ORCID search: authenticated users can search their own past depositions and don’t need to re-enter the password
• Re-upload support: the feature can be used during re-upload
• Selective import: depositors choose specific categories (authors, citation, funding, keywords, macromolecules (new option), method-specific experimental information)
• Macromolecule checks: entity metadata is copied only when polymer chains align between structures
• Method-aware safeguards: X-ray, NMR, and EM options appear only when both depositions are compatible; EM reconstruction sub-method must also match for EM experimental information
• Authoritative mmCIF source: metadata is copied from the related entry’s annotated mmCIF record

The feature is available on the File upload page at deposit.wwpdb.org.

Further guidance is in the wwPDB deposition FAQ and wwPDB tutorial page.

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