Calculation of entropy change accompanying growth of Escherichia coli K-12 on succinic acid.

The DeltaSf of one unit carbon formula weight of Escherichia coli K-12 cells, when grown on succinic acid, was calculated to be -80.13 J/deg. This value could then be used to calculate the entropy change accompanying the anabolism and metabolism of succinic acid to be 30.82 J/deg and 32.40 J/mol deg, respectively. The entropy of one unit carbon formula weight of dried E. Coli K-12 cells is calculated to be 94.40 J/deg, which when divided by the mass of these cells becomes 3.90 J/g deg. The corresponding entropy of succinic acid is 2.77 J/g deg, making it apparent that the entropy per unit mass of the cells is greater than that of the substrate. It might be thought that because the cells appear to be so much more complex than the substrate, the cells should have a lesser entropy per unit mass than the substrate. That this does not appear to be true leads to the conclusion that the macromolecular organization (informational content?) of the cells contributes only in a very minor way to the total physical entropy of cells.