title: Length-dependent translation of messenger RNA by ribosomes.
abstract: A simple measure for the efficiency of protein synthesis by ribosomes is provided by the steady state amount of protein per messenger RNA (mRNA), the so-called translational ratio, which is proportional to the translation rate. Taking the degradation of mRNA into account, we show theoretically that both the translation rate and the translational ratio decrease with increasing mRNA length, in agreement with available experimental data for the prokaryote Escherichia coli. We also show that, compared to prokaryotes, mRNA degradation in eukaryotes leads to a less rapid decrease of the translational ratio. This finding is consistent with the fact that, compared to prokaryotes, eukaryotes tend to have longer proteins.
authors: Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Theory and Bio-Systems, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany. angelo.valleriani@mpikg.mpg.de
authors: Angelo
authors: A
authors: Valleriani
authors: Gong
authors: G
authors: Zhang
authors: Apoorva
authors: A
authors: Nagar
authors: Zoya
authors: Z
authors: Ignatova
authors: Reinhard
authors: R
authors: Lipowsky