Replication rate

The replication rate describes the growth rate with which a replication of the genome of a living being or a replication of a molecule (e.g. viruses , viroids , satellite DNA or prions ) takes place. In living things, the rate of replication correlates with the rate of reproduction .

properties

Nucleic acids

Since the replication of nucleic acids proceeds semi-conservatively, i.e. with retention of one of the two DNA strands of both double-stranded replicates, one round of replication leads to a doubling and rounds to a multiplication of the initial number . The amount of time it takes to complete one round of replication is called the generation time . ${\ displaystyle x}$ ${\ displaystyle 2 ^ {x}}$

The number of a replicable object after doubling round, based on the initial number : ${\ displaystyle N}$ ${\ displaystyle x}$ ${\ displaystyle N_ {0}}$

{\ displaystyle N = N_ {0} \ cdot 2 ^ {x}}

From the generation time can be transformed:

{\ displaystyle \ ln (2 \ cdot N_ {0}) = \ ln N_ {0} + k \ cdot t \ quad \ Rightarrow \ quad t = {\ frac {\ ln 2} {k}} \ approx {\ frac {0 {,} 69} {k}}}

A high replication rate is generally used to secure the existence of more offspring and to facilitate adaptation to changed environmental conditions. In pathogens , a higher rate of replication enables increased immune evasion through more escape mutations . The replication rate of a pathogen affects the number of reproductions .

Viruses

In the case of lytic viruses, the burst size limits the number of viral genomes and thus the number of newly formed viruses per infected cell and thus the number of rounds of replication per infected cell before lysis of the host cell begins. Since the burst size is the maximum value of in a cell, we get: ${\ displaystyle B}$ ${\ displaystyle N}$

{\ displaystyle N_ {0} \ cdot 2 ^ {x} \ leq B}

and reshaped

{\ displaystyle 2 ^ {x} \ leq {\ frac {B} {N_ {0}}}}

Individual evidence

↑ S. Pleschka: Overview of influenza viruses. In: Current topics in microbiology and immunology. Volume 370, 2013, ISSN 0070-217X , pp. 1-20, doi : 10.1007 / 82_2012_272 , PMID 23124938 .

[1] S. Pleschka: Overview of influenza viruses. In: Current topics in microbiology and immunology. Volume 370, 2013, ISSN 0070-217X , pp. 1-20, doi : 10.1007 / 82_2012_272 , PMID 23124938 .