Energy required to synthesize 1g dry weight of cells

Value 0.024 mole ATP/gDW
Organism Mouse LS cells
Reference Kilburn DG, Lilly MD, Webb FC. The energetics of mammalian cell growth. J Cell Sci. 1969 May4(3):645-54. p.651 bottom line continued p.652PubMed ID5817088
Method The energy required to synthesize 1g dry weight of cells is the biosynthetic energy per cell times the number of cells per g, i.e. (1.6x10^-11)(1.5x10^9) = 0.024mole ATP
Comments The maximum possible YATP if no energy is used for maintenance is thus 1/0.024 =42g cells/mole ATP. The biosynthesis of LS cells required 1.6 x 10^-11 moles of ATP/cell. The maintenance energy, which is a function of growth rate, was 2.9 x 10^-11 moles ATP/new cell when the mean generation time was 1-15 days. The proportion of the total energy used for maintenance under these conditions was 65 %. This corresponds to a value of less than 10% for bacterial maintenance when the organisms are grown at near their maximum rate. A comparison of biosynthetic energy requirements indicates that bacteria and moulds require about 4 times as much energy as animal cells to generate the same weight of cell material.
Entered by Uri M
ID 106070