Controlling the rates of transcription and translation is important in bacteria to avoid collisions between ribosomes and RNA polymerases. Calculate what the maximum rate of translation by a ribosome in a bacterial cell would have to be, in units of amino acids per second, so as not to overtake an RNA polymerase that is synthesizing mRNA at a rate of 60 nucleotides per second. How long would it take for this bacterial cell to translate an mRNA containing 1800 codons?

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that each codon in mRNA consists of 3 nucleotides.
2. Calculate the rate of mRNA synthesis in terms of codons per second by dividing the RNA polymerase rate (60 nucleotides per second) by 3.
3. Determine the maximum rate of translation by a ribosome in amino acids per second, ensuring it does not exceed the rate of mRNA synthesis in codons per second.
4. Calculate the total number of amino acids to be translated from the mRNA, which is equal to the number of codons (1800).
5. Determine the time required to translate the entire mRNA by dividing the total number of amino acids (1800) by the maximum rate of translation in amino acids per second.

Key Concepts

Transcription and Translation

Transcription is the process by which RNA polymerase synthesizes mRNA from a DNA template, while translation is the process where ribosomes synthesize proteins by decoding mRNA into amino acids. In bacteria, these processes are tightly coordinated to ensure efficient protein synthesis and to prevent collisions between the two machinery.

Codons and Amino Acids

A codon is a sequence of three nucleotides in mRNA that corresponds to a specific amino acid or a stop signal during protein synthesis. Since there are 1800 codons in the given mRNA, understanding the relationship between codons and the resulting amino acids is crucial for calculating the translation time and rate.

Rate of Translation

The rate of translation refers to how quickly ribosomes can synthesize proteins, typically measured in amino acids per second. To avoid collisions with RNA polymerases, the translation rate must be calculated based on the transcription rate of 60 nucleotides per second, considering that each codon consists of three nucleotides.