Quiz #2

Biochemical Engineering

Fall 2009


Instruction

You may use one 8.5x11 sheet of notes, but nothing else (no calculators, laptop computers, etc). Any act of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.

Attachment: Genecode table

  1. (25 pts.) . Briefly describe/contrast the following concepts/terms.

    1. Electron donor, electron accepter

      Solution:

        Electron Acceptor: a chemical species that can be reduced, typically oxygen
                           for aerobic metabolism.
        Electron Donor:    a chemical species that can be oxidized (e.g., NADH).
      

    2. NADH

      Solution:

      NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide): carrier of reducing power in cells; carrier of H (aka fuel).

    3. ATP, P/O ratio

      Solution:

      ATP (adenosine triphosphate): carrier of energy in cells. P/O ratio is the number of ATP generated per oxygen, equivalently per NADH2 or FADH2; it is a measure of energy capture efficiency from oxidizing H.

    4. Pasteur effect

      Solution:

      Glycolysis is repressed in the presence of oxygen. Lower oxygen partial pressure (dissolved oxygen) causes higher rate of glycolysis.

    5. Crabtree effect

      Solution:

      High glucose level causes ethanol production (even under aerobic condition).

  2. (25 pts.) Replication.

    1. On an infinitely large source of nutrient lands one lucky 1-μm bacterium that doubles once every hour. What is the bacterial mass after one week in terms of Earth mass unit? (One Earth mass unit is the mass of the Earth. If you do not know it, estimate the Earth mass with the fact that the distance between the US East coast and West coast is ~3000 miles and the time difference is 3 hours and that a rock weighs ~6X as much as water of the same volume.)

      Solution:

        doubling time = tdouble = 1hr
        # cells after 24*7 divisions = 224*7 bacteria = 824*7/3 ≈ 1024*7*0.3 = 1050.?
        mass of bacterium @ 103kg/m3 = (10-6m)3*(103kg/m3) = 10-15kg
        EMU = mass of earth @ 6*103kg/m3 = (volume of earth)(density)
          = (1021m3)*(6*103kg/m3) = 6*1024kg
        cell mass after a week = (1050.? bacteria)*(10-15kg/bacteria)*(EMU/6*1024kg) ≈ 1011 Earth Mass Unit
      
      Basically, it is an astronomical number by any measure!

    2. What is the specific growth rate of this bacterium?

      Solution:

        specific growth rate = ln(2)/tdouble = ln(2)/(1 hr) ≈ 0.7 hr-1
      

    3. What is the average rate of DNA synthesis in this population of bacteria in terms of number of chromosomes per hour?

      Solution:

      Every time a bacterium doubles, it has to replicate one new set of chromosome. Thus, the average rate of DNA synthesis is 1 chromosome per hour in each bacterium.

    4. A measure of DNA replication rate is the length of time it takes for a replication fork to travel from one given position on the chromosome to another position. If a replication fork travels at a fixed rate of 1 chromosome length per hour, how long does it take for this bacterium to replicate its chromosome?

      Solution:

      Once replication starts, two replication forks travel away from the origin of replication (ORI) and meet half way at the opposite side of a circular chromosome. It takes 0.5 hour for the replication fork to travel half way.

    5. For another bacterium that doubles every 20 minutes, how much longer does it take for this second bacterium to reach one Earth mass unit compared to the first one that doubles every hour? Give the average number of replication forks in a population of second bacteria when replication forks travel at a fixed rate of 1 chromosome length per hour as before.

      Solution:

      It takes 1/3 as long to double as a given number of times to reach a given level.

        average number of replication forks = (1 chromosome/20min)*(fork-hr/chromosome) = 3 forks
      

  3. (20 pts.) Central Dogma of Biology. Examine the cloning vector pUC19. Below is some additional information.
       -------------------------------------------------------------
       Bases     Functions
       -------------------------------------------------------------
       142- 147  Promoter for beta-gal (-30 signal), induced by IPTG
       176- 180  Promoter for beta-gal (-10 signal)
       216- 539  beta-galactosidase codons
       230- 289  mcs (polylinker)
       885-1745  beta-lactamase codons
       -------------------------------------------------------------
    

    1. Give the number of bases A, T, C, G in pUC19.
        Bases  Number
        -------------
          A    659+666=1325  Note: A=T
          T    659+666=1325
          C    686+657=1343  Note: C=G
          G    686+657=1343
      
    2. Transcription. Mark roughly the mRNA that contains the beta-galactosidase gene on pUC19. Is the strand given in the provided pUC19 sequence the template a cell uses to synthesize the mRNA?

      Solution:

        base #        180        216  539
        DNA  ...promoter-----rbs--codons------terminator...
        mRNA               <-------mRNA------>
      
      The mRNA starts after the promoters (i.e., after 180) and ends at the terminator (which is not given but should be after the beta-galactosidase stop codon. (i.e., somewhere after 539). mRNA is more than just the codons; it normally includes both extra nucleotides before the start codon (including rbs) and nucleaotides after the stop codon. A cell uses the strand that is complementary to the given strand as a template to transcribe mRNA; the given strand is NOT the template strand.

    3. Mark roughly the location of the ribosome binding site (rbs) on the above mRNA.

      Solution:

      A little after the promoters (i.e., after 180), but a little before the beta-galactosidase codons (i.e., before 216). Thus, somewhere between 180 and 216.

    4. Translation. Give the two peptides at the N-terminus and the two peptides at the C-terminus of beta-galactosidase.

      Solution:

        216- 539  beta-galactosidase codons
      
      pUC19 181 tgtgagcgga taacaatttc acacaggaaa cagctATG ACC ...
      translation                                  NH2-M- -T-
                 :
      pUC19 481 GCGGTATTTC ACACCGCATA TGGTGCACTC TCAGTACAAT CTGCTCTGAT GCC GCA TAGt
      translation                                                      -A- -A-COOH
      
      Note that the stop codon "TAG" is NOT a peptide; translation stops precisely because it does not code for any peptide.

  4. (25 pts.) Cloning. I would like to give a novelty, albeit nerdy, gift to my wife Patty in the form of a host bacterium that can overproduce a polypeptide "MyDearestPatty". I resort to a cloning vector pUC19.

    1. What is a cloning vector? Why do I need to resort to a cloning vector to express the polypeptide MyDearestPatty?

      Solution:

      A cloning vector is a tool for carrying the heterologous gene into a cell (host). A vector is generally a small extrachromosomal piece of DNA (e.g., a plasmid, a phage, or a virus) that contains, in addition to the target gene, the regulatory elements needed for its replication (ORI), transcription of the target gene (promoter/operator and terminator), and translation (ribosome binding site). If just the target gene (without all the necessary regulatory components for replication, transcription, and translation) is inserted into a host, nothing will happen.

    2. The problem statement says "a host bacterium that can overproduce...", rather than "a plasmid pUC19 that can overproduce...". Why?

      Solution:

      A plasmid is a parasite that cannot replicate on its own, nor transcribe mRNA on its own, nor synthesize protein on its own. The host helps the vector propagate and expresses the target gene to synthesize the target protein. Nothing will happen without the host.

    3. Give a sequence of the DNA polynucleotide that I need to insert into pUC19. In the interest of time, you can specify just two codons at each end of the segment that codes for MyDearestPatty. "???" below are intended for you to fill in the codon nucleotides, while "..." below symbolizes continuation. Why do I add "..." before/after the codons?
        DNA sequence:   .....??????...??????.....
      

      Solution:

        peptide               M   Y     T   Y  Ter
        DNA sequence:   .....atg tat...act tat taa.....
      

      We facilitate insertion by digesting with restriction enzyme(s); the "..." before/after the codons are restriction sites.

    4. Because Patty's favorite color is blue, I want to preserve the beta-galactosidase gene in pUC19 so that the host turns a chromogenic substrate blue whenever it is expressing MyDearestPatty. (Thus, when she visually sees blue, she knows MyDearestPatty is expressed.) Where on pUC19 should I insert the DNA sequence from the last part?

      Solution:

      Insert either a) after the beta-galactosidase promoter/rbs but before the beta-galactosidase start codon (i.e., 216), or b) after the beta-galactosidase stop codon (i.e., 539) but before the terminator. In short, either right before or right after an intact beta-galactosidase gene so that the peptide "MyDearestPatty" and beta-galactosidase (which generates blue color) are both under the same promoter as an operon and are both synthesized.

    5. Unfortunately, all known restriction enzymes fail to recognize the desired location of insertion from the last part. How can I modify pUC19 so that a restriction enzyme can recognize this location and allows insertion of the target gene there? Should I choose a restriction enzyme that recognizes also other cleavage site(s) elsewhere on pUC19, or should I choose a restriction enzyme that does not cut at any other position on pUC19? Briefly, why?

      Solution:

      Swap a few bases via PCR to allow recognition. Because we do not want to chop up the vector into many small pieces or have other unintended insertion sites, it is best to identify an enzyme that does NOT make any other cut on the original pUC19.

      (Hereafter is not tested in the interest of time.) For example, by examining the restriction sites on pUC19, we see Xma III (with recognition c/ggccg) is a candidate. Below, we examine the location right after the beta-galactosidase condons.

      pUC19 541 taagccagcc ccgacacccg ccaacacccg ctgacgcgcc ctgacgggct tgtctgctcc
      line up       cggccg
      # mismatch    423345 3354255236 4454254246 2444332455 2355234654 36534
                     |         |  |       |  |   |     |    |   |
      
      The best is a number of mismatch of 0, meaning "bingo!" a perfect match (i.e., restriction enzyme recognition). The second best is a number of mismatch of 1 (which we do not have in this region). The third best is a number of mismatch of 2 (which there are several, as marked above). For example, we can create a recognition by Xma III at 555 by swapping two bases with PCR to change it from "cacccg" to "cggccg". (Describe how to swap bases with PCR.)

  5. (15 pts.) Continuous Bioreactor. You run a business of growing microalgae on a glycerol substrate. You choose to operate in a steady-state continuous mode where the substrate at concentration sf is continuously fed into a stirred bioreactor of volume V at a feed flow rate of F, and a stream F continuously overflows out of the bioreactor. A significant fraction of the harvested algae cells is oil, which subsequently can be extracted and processed into liquid transportation fuels.

    1. List one major advantage of the continuous mode of bioreactor operation.

      Solution:

      High productivity.

    2. List the set of equations to solve to find the values of F and sf to maximize added value where the price of the cells relative to that of glycerol is γ and where the residual substrate in the bioreactor has no recovery value. That is, you maximize cell productivity while minimize substrate expense needed to achieve that productivity. State relevant assumptions and provide missing information.

      Solution:

        dx/dt = 0 = -D*x + μ*x
        ds/dt = 0 = D*(sf-s) - μ*x/Y
        Solve the above 2 algebraic equations for steady-state values of x and s.
        maxD,sf added_value = D*(γ*x-sf)
      


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Biochemical Engineering -- Quiz #1
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Nam Sun Wang
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
University of Maryland
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