The purple patches of the Halobacterium halobium membrane, which contain the protein bacteriorhodopsin, are approximately \(75 \%\) protein and \(25 \%\) lipid. If the protein molecular weight is 26,000 and an average phospholipid has a molecular weight of 800 , calculate the phospholipid-to-protein mole ratio.

Short Answer

Expert verified
The phospholipid-to-protein mole ratio in the Halobacterium halobium membrane is approximately 10.84.

Step by step solution

01

Determining the percentage in moles

First, let's consider 100 g of membrane. In this case, 75 g will be protein and 25 g will be lipid. To find the quantity in moles, we must divide these values by the respective molecular weights. Therefore, protein moles = 75 g / 26,000 g/mole = 0.002884615 mole. Similarly, lipid moles = 25 g / 800 g/mole = 0.03125 mole.
02

Calculating the phospholipid-to-protein mole ratio

The phospholipid-to-protein mole ratio can now be calculated by dividing the number of lipid moles by the number of protein moles. That is, phospholipid-to-protein mole ratio = 0.03125 mole / 0.002884615 mole = 10.84 approximately.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Sucrose gradients for separation of membrane proteins must be able to separate proteins and protein-lipid complexes having a wide range of densities, typically 1.00 to \(1.35 \mathrm{g} / \mathrm{mL}\) a. Consult reference books (such as the CRC Handbook of Biochemistry \()\) and plot the density of sucrose solutions versus percent sucrose by weight (g sucrose per 100 g solution), and versus percent by volume (g sucrose per \(100 \mathrm{mL}\) solution). Why is one plot linear and the other plot curved? b. What would be a suitable range of sucrose concentrations for separation of three membrane-derived protein-lipid complexes with densities of \(1.03,1.07,\) and \(1.08 \mathrm{g} / \mathrm{mL} ?\)

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