Jump to content

ATP used in DNA replication, Transcription, and Translation


Recommended Posts

DNA replication, Transcription, and Translation all use ATP. But how much ATP is needed for these processes?

 

Now I understand that it would require that I know the numbers for each kind of nucleotide in the genome. For individual genes, that is easy but for the whole genome it would require that I know the ratios as well as the fact that we have approximately 6 billion nucleotides in our genome to get a good approximation.

 

The reason for me asking this is because when I have built the cell from scratch I want to know if 50 nanograms of glucose is enough for all cellular processes to happen up to and including mitosis assuming that my cell produces 36 ATP per glucose and is thus a very efficient cell.

 

This 50 nanograms I got from taking the daily value of glucose in grams and dividing it by the molar mass of glucose to get moles. I then took the number of moles and converted it to molecules. I then divided the number of molecules by the number of cells (which is around 3 trillion) to get molecules of glucose per cell. I then converted it back to moles and finally grams. After that I put it in the most convenient unit with a metric prefix which is nanograms.

 

Specifically I did this:

 

150 grams glucose/180 g/mol = 5/6 moles glucose.

 

5/6 moles * 6.022*10^23 molecules/mole = 501,833,333,333,333,333,333,333 molecules glucose

 

501,833,333,333,333,333,333,333 molecules/3,000,000,000,000 cells = 167,277,777,778 molecules glucose per cell

 

167,277,777,778 molecules/6.022 * 10^23 molecules/mole = 2.7*10^(-13) moles per cell

 

2.7*10^(-13) moles * 180 g/mol = .00000000005 grams per cell = 50 nanograms per cell

Edited by caters
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are asking a large and somewhat nebulous question. It takes at least four high energy bonds to make one peptide bond. However, given the existence of proofreading by Ef-Tu in E. coli, it sometimes takes five. DNA polymerase also engages in proofreading, which costs energy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I know but I need to know how much ATP per nucleotide is needed for DNA replication in humans(With DNA polymerases 3 and 1 and helicase etc.) as well as transcription with different RNA polymerases and how much ATP per amino acid is needed for protein synthesis. For anabolism of glucose and lipids and catabolism of glucose, lipids, and proteins I can easily look up how much ATP is needed but for other processes, not so much.

 

When I search for "How much ATP is needed for DNA replication per nucleotide" I get a lot of peer reveiwed research papers about DNA replication itself and even ones that refer to ATP being used in DNA replication but not a simple answer to my question.

 

So that is why I have been asking on several forums how much ATP is needed for cell processes like DNA replication and transcription and translation is because I can't find a simple answer when I search for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.