Chapter 1

The nutritional requirements of Escherichia coli cells are far simpler than those of humans, yet the macromolecules found in bacteria are about as complex as those of animals. Because bacteria can make all their essential biomolecules while subsisting on a simpler diet, do you think bacteria may have more biosynthetic capacity and hence more metabolic complexity than animals? Organize your thoughts on this question, pro and con, into a rational argument.

Without consulting the figures in this chapter, sketch the characteristic prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell types and label their pertinent organelle and membrane systems.

Escherichia coli cells are about \(2 \mu \mathrm{m}\) (microns) long and \(0.8 \mu \mathrm{m}\) in diameter. a. How many \(E\). coli cells laid end to end would fit across the diameter of a pinhead? (Assume a pinhead diameter of \(0.5 \mathrm{mm}\).) b. What is the volume of an \(E\). coli cell? (Assume it is a cylinder, with the volume of a cylinder given by \(V=\pi r^{2} h,\) where \(\pi=3.14 .\) c. What is the surface area of an \(E\). colicell? What is the surface-to volume ratio of an \(E .\) colicell? d. Glucose, a major energy-yielding nutrient, is present in bacterial cells at a concentration of about \(1 \mathrm{m} M\). What is the concentration of glucose, expressed as \(\mathrm{mg} / \mathrm{mL}\) ? How many glucose molecules are contained in a typical \(E\) coli cell? (Recall that Avogadro's number \(=6.023 \times 10^{23}\).) e. A number of regulatory proteins are present in \(E\). coli at only one or two molecules per cell. If we assume that an \(E\). colicell contains just one molecule of a particular protein, what is the molar concentration of this protein in the cell? If the molecular weight of this protein is \(40 \mathrm{kD},\) what is its concentration, expressed as \(\mathrm{mg} / \mathrm{mL} ?\) f. \(\operatorname{An} E .\) coli cell contains about 15,000 ribosomes, which carry out protein synthesis. Assuming ribosomes are spherical and have a diameter of \(20 \mathrm{nm}\) (nanometers), what fraction of the \(E .\) colicell volume is occupied by ribosomes? g. The \(E\) coli chromosome is a single DNA molecule whose mass is about \(3 \times 10^{9}\) daltons. This macromolecule is actually a linear array of nucleotide pairs. The average molecular weight of a nucleotide pair is \(660,\) and each pair imparts \(0.34 \mathrm{nm}\) to the length of the DNA molecule. What is the total length of the E. coli chromosome? How does this length compare with the overall dimensions of an \(E\). coli cell? How many nucleotide pairs does this DNA contain? The average \(E\). coli protein is a linear chain of 360 amino acids. If three nucleotide pairs in a gene encode one amino acid in a protein, how many different proteins can the E. coli chromosome encode? (The answer to this question is a reasonable approximation of the maximum number of different kinds of proteins that can be expected in bacteria.)

Assume that mitochondria are cylinders \(1.5 \mu \mathrm{m}\) in length and \(0.6 \mu \mathrm{m}\) in diameter. a. What is the volume of a single mitochondrion? b. Oxaloacetate is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, an important metabolic pathway localized in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. The concentration of oxaloacetate in mitochondria is about \(0.03 \mu M\). How many molecules of oxaloacetate are in a single mitochondrion?

Assume that liver cells are cuboidal in shape, \(20 \mu \mathrm{m}\) on a side. a. How many liver cells laid end to end would fit across the diameter of a pinhead? (Assume a pinhead diameter of \(0.5 \mathrm{mm} .\) ) b. What is the volume of a liver cell? (Assume it is a cube.) c. What is the surface area of a liver cell? What is the surface to-volume ratio of a liver cell? How does this compare to the surface-to-volume ratio of an \(E\) coli cell (compare this answer with that of problem \(3 c\) )? What problems must cells with low surface to-volume ratios confront that do not occur in cells with high surface-to-volume ratios? A. A human liver cell contains two sets of 23 chromosomes, each set being roughly equivalent in information content. The total mass of DNA contained in these 46 enormous DNA molecules is \(4 \times 10^{12}\) daltons. Because each nucleotide pair contributes 660 daltons to the mass of DNA and 0.34 nm to the length of DNA, what is the total number of nucleotide pairs and the complete length of the DNA in a liver cell? How does this length compare with the overall dimensions of a liver cell? The maximal information in each set of liver cell chromosomes should be related to the number of nucleotide pairs in the chromosome set's DNA. This number can be obtained by dividing the total number of nucleotide pairs just calculated by 2 . What is this value? If this information is expressed in proteins that average 400 amino acids in length and three nucleotide pairs encode one amino acid in a protein, how many different kinds of proteins might a liver cell be able to produce? (In reality, liver cell DNA encodes approximately 20,000 different proteins. Thus, a large discrepancy exists between the theoretical information content of DNA in liver cells and the amount of information actually expressed.)

Biomolecules interact with one another through molecular surfaces that are structurally complementary. How can various proteins interact with molecules as different as simple ions, hydrophobic lipids, polar but uncharged carbohydrates, and even nucleic acids?

What structural features allow biological polymers to be informational macromolecules? Is it possible for polysaccharides to be informational macromolecules?

Why is it important that weak forces, not strong forces, mediate biomolecular recognition?

Why does the central role of weak forces in biomolecular interactions restrict living systems to a narrow range of environmental conditions?

Describe what is meant by the phrase "cells are steady-state systems."