Thursday, March 5, 2015

Estimate the molecular/formula weight of DNA based on its length in base pair (bp)

This is just an estimation, i.e. 650.
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How to calculate Molarity and Number of DNA molecules
  • Calculate the molecular weight of DNA molecule
A double stranded DNA of 100 bp will have an estimated molecular/formula weight = 100 bp x 650/bp = 65,000. Note that 650 is the molecular weight of one base pair.
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  • Calculate the Molarity of DNA solution
To calculate molarity of DNA, e.g. 100 µg/ml (equivalent to 0.1 g/l) of 100 bp DNA will corresponds to 0.1/65000 Molar = 1.5 µM DNA (equivalent to 1.5 µmol/l).
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  • Calculate the number of DNA molecules in a volume of DNA solution
To calculate the numbers of DNA molecules in 1 µl (equivalent to 1 x 10^-6 l) of 1.5 µM DNA, use the Avagadro number to convert mol to the number of molecules. First, determine the mol of DNA in 1 µl of 1.5 µmol/l DNA solution, e.g. 1.5 x 10^-6 x 10^-6 = 1.5 x 10^-12 mol. Next, determine number of DNA molecules, e.g. 1.5 x 10^-12 x 6.023 x 10^23 = 9.03 x 10^11 DNA molecules. That is equivalent to 0.9 trillion DNA molecules.
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  • Calculate the number of DNA molecules based on mass
If I have a mass of DNA molecule, e.g. 135 pg of 500 bp dsDNA, how many DNA molecules is there? First, determine the molecular weight, i.e. 500 bp x 650/bp = 325,000. Note that 135 pg is equivalent to 135 x 10^-12 g. Next, determine the mol of DNA, i.e. 135 x 10^-12 / 325,000 = 4.15 x 10^-16 mol. In a mole, there is 6.023 x 10^23 molecules, thus the amount of DNA molecules is 4.15 x 10^-16 x 6.023 x 10^23 = 250 million DNA molecules.
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This is for my own reference.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the reference. Biotech research is always not an easy thing. You analysis is quite clear.

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