A linear segment of B-DNA has a length of 34 m . Assuming that a typical nucleosome contains 200 base pairs of DNA helix, what is the maximum number of nucleosomes that can be formed from this segment?

Step-by-step solution

Length of the B-DNA segment = 34 m = 34 10⁻⁶ m Distance between two consecutive base pairs = 0.34 nm = 0.34 10⁻⁹ m Total number of base pairs in the segment = 34 10⁻⁶ 0.34 10⁻⁹ = 100,000 bp Number of base pairs in one typical nucleosome = 200 Maximum number of nucleosomes = 100,000 200 = 500 The option 100,000 represents only the number of base pairs, missing the final step. Options with 50 or 5000 result from incorrect unit conversions. Answer: 500