E.coli has only 4.6 × 10 6 base pairs and completes the process of replication within 18 minutes, then the average rate of polymerisation is approximately

Options

A. 2000 base pairs/second
B. 3000 base pairs/second
C. 4000 base pairs/second
D. 1000 base pairs/second

Answer

To find the average rate of polymerization of E. coli, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the total number of base pairs
E. coli has a total of 4.6 × 10^6 base pairs.

### Step 2: Convert the time from minutes to seconds
The time taken for replication is given as 18 minutes. To convert this into seconds:
\[ \text{Time in seconds} = 18 \text{ minutes} \times 60 \text{ seconds/minute} = 1080 \text{ seconds} \]

### Step 3: Calculate the average rate of polymerization
The average rate of polymerization can be calculated using the formula:
\[ \text{Rate of polymerization} = \frac{\text{Total base pairs}}{\text{Time in seconds}} \]
Substituting the values we have:
\[ \text{Rate of polymerization} = \frac{4.6 \times 10^6 \text{ base pairs}}{1080 \text{ seconds}} \]

### Step 4: Perform the division
Calculating the above expression:
\[ \text{Rate of polymerization} \approx 4259.25 \text{ base pairs/second} \]

### Step 5: Round the result
Since we need to provide an approximate value, we can round this to:
\[ \text{Average rate of polymerization} \approx 4000 \text{ base pairs/second} \]

### Final Answer
Thus, the average rate of polymerization for E. coli is approximately **4000 base pairs per second**.

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