Re: What's smallest known "self-sufficient" genome?

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 14:46:48 -0400 (EDT),
Perplexed in Peoria <jimmenegay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"feedbackdroid" <feedbackdroid@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
message news:e2669v$8k4$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[snip]

Thanks. I asked the question because for 3.5 BY or so, there were
nothing but single-celled organisms on the planet, and given the rate
at which bacteria replicate, there must have been a gazillion
generations [conservatively speaking], and about 2^(gazillion)
individuals.

I would be surprised if there were more than about 10 trillion generations.

A typical generation time for bacteria is 3 days. This works out to about
100 generations per year. Marine bacteria may have longer generation
times and some soil bacteria that live in rocks may only divide every
few years.

Don't be fooled by the fastest possible generation times that can be achieved
during logarithmic growth under ideal conditions in a laboratory with strains
that have been selected for rapid growth.

In the real world, E. coli divides every 24 hours in the intestines of well-
fed humans. That's about as fast as it gets. Be thankful.




Larry Moran

.