Chapter 1, Problem 12P

Answers to all problems are at the end of this book. Detailed solutions are available in the Student Solutions Manual, Study Guide, and Problems Book.

A Simple Genome and Its Protein-Encoding Capacity The genome of the Mycoplasma genitalium consists of 523 genes, encoding 484 proteins, in just 5S0.U74 base pairs (see Table 1.6). What fraction of the M. genitalium genes encode proteins? What do you think the other genes encode? If the fraction of base pairs devoted to protein-coding genes is the same as the fraction of the total genes that they represent, what is tlie average number of base pairs per protein-coding gene? If it takes three base pairs to specify an amino acid in a protein, how many amino acids are found in the average M. genitalium protein? If each amino acid contributes, on average, 12U daltons to the mass of a protein, what is the mass of an average M. genitalium protein? (Section 1.5)