You can accept or revoke the cookies used on this website at any time with the selection below or by adjusting your cookie settings. For complete details about our cookies, see our Cookie Policy.
RNA numbers: Size, molecular weight, distribution, yield, and conversions
A typical rapidly growing mammalian cell culture contains 10–30 pg total RNA per cell, whereas a fully differentiated primary cell will contain far less — in the region of <1 pg per cell. The majority of RNA molecules are tRNAs and rRNAs. mRNA accounts for only 1–5% of the total cellular RNA although the actual amount depends on the cell type and physiological state. Approximately 360,000 mRNA molecules are present in a single mammalian cell, made up of approximately 12,000 different transcripts with a typical length of approximately 2 kb. Some mRNAs comprise as much as 3% of the mRNA pool whereas others account for less than 0.01%. These “rare” or “low abundance” messages may have a copy number of only 5–15 molecules per cell. However, these rare species may account for as much as 11,000 different mRNA species, comprising 45% of the mRNA population. All such important RNA numbers are represented in this infographic.
All such important RNA numbers are represented in this infographic.