TABLE 3.

Average levels of molecules per spore for different-abundance mRNAs in dormant B. subtilis spores calculated from data in previously reported work^a

Abundance level	No. of genes	Length (nt)b	RPKM value	No. of reads/genec	RelmRNAs/gened	No. of mRNA nt/sporee	No. of mRNA nt/spore (Σ = 106)f	No. of mRNA/sporeg
Top	29	272	353,000	96,016	842	6.6 × 106	6.8 × 105	86
Next lowest	17	323	4,970	1,605	14	7.7 × 104	7.9 × 103	1.4
Next lowest	32	487	2,740	1,334	12	1.9 × 105	2 × 104	1.3
Lowest	2,711	1,039	110	114	1	2.8 × 106	2.9 × 105	0.1

^aRNA-seq data on relative abundances of mRNAs detected in B. subtilis spores prepared in liquid were reported previously (23). Values in in the third through sixth and ninth columns are averages for the mRNAs in each group of genes. Values in the second, seventh, and eighth columns are totals for all genes or mRNAs in each group.

^bThe numbers of nucleotides in mRNAs in original RNA-seq data include the coding sequence plus the stop codon. Consequently, the values in this column have been increased by 50 nt to take into account the 3′ and 5′ untranslated regions in mRNAs.

^cCalculated as [(value in the fourth column) × (value in the third column)]/1,000 to correct for the fact that RPKM values are based on reads per kilobase of transcript.

^dRelmRNAs/gene are relative levels of spore mRNA that were calculated as (value in the fifth column)/114, the average number of reads/gene for the lowest-abundance group.

^eValues were calculated as (value in the sixth column) × (value in the second column) × (value in the third column) for each group.

^fCalculated as (value in the seventh column) × 0.103 to obtain a total of 10⁶ nt for all groups.

^gThese values were calculated as (value in the eighth column)/(value in the second column) × (value in the third column) and are the average numbers of each individual mRNA per spore in each group.