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Home Q & A Board Biology-Related Homework Help Cell Biology
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Octoshark Octoshark
wrote...
13 years ago
An M. xanthus cell is about 1 uM x 3 uM and its circular genome contains 9 x 10^6 bp. Cultures of M. xanthus can reach densities if 10^9 cells/ml (1 ml = 1 cm^3). If you were to take all the DNA molecules from all the cells in 1 ml of such an M. xanthus culture and stitch them all together into one gigantic linear double helix, how long would that helix be?
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wrote...
#1
Educator
13 years ago
All you do is multiply 9*106 x 109 = Total number of base-pairs. We know this because in one cell there are 9*106 and in 1 mL there are 109 total cells.

Bio_man 8)
Octoshark Author
wrote...
#2
13 years ago
Ok cool, and then I just multiply by the length of a base pair? How long is that? The question says to convert my answer into miles.
wrote...
#3
Educator
13 years ago
Quote from: Octoshark (13 years ago)
Ok cool, and then I just multiply by the length of a base pair? How long is that? The question says to convert my answer into miles.

One base-pair corresponds to 3.4 angstroms of length along the strand.

3.4 * 9*106 * 109 = 3.06 x 1016 Angstroms all put together

We know that:

     1 angstrom          = 6.21371192 × 10-14 miles
3.06 x 1016 angstroms= x

x = 1901.39 miles

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