Exam 20: Developmental Genetics

Mutations of regulatory elements of developmental genes may have either dominant or recessive effects.If a mutation results in a silencer element,that negatively regulates,which do you expect?

Aniridia is a human condition in which the eye has no iris.The protein encoded by the gene responsible for aniridia is very nearly identical to the protein product of the fly Eyeless protein.What experiment could provide evidence that the two genes are functionally equivalent?

Most of the genes controlling development encode either signal molecules or ________.

A pair-rule gene in Drosophila called runt controls some of sex and nervous system formation.In the mouse,runt controls blood cell formation,osteogenesis,and genital structures.In humans,the analog of runt,when mutated,causes children to lack collar bones,and the opening at the top of the skull fails to close.What kind of experiment could tell you whether these genes are conserved in function?

The Antennapedia complex and the bithorax complex of genes all encode transcription factors have a 180-bp DNA-binding domain.What is this domain called?

In Arabidopsis thaliana,a model organism in plant genetics,there are three classes of genes that control the development of floral structures: A,B,and C.Mutations of these genes cause organs to form in inappropriate places.What category of genes are they?

Cell signaling during much of C.elegans development occurs along concentration gradients.What kind of signaling does this represent?

In early vertebrate embryonic development,a number of pathways,such as Wnt,Hedgehog,and Notch,regulate differentiation and organ formation.They operate by

Coordinate genes in an organism such as Drosophila determine the ________ of the early embryo.

Cell autonomous genes affect only those cells in which they are expressed.Which group of early developmental genes are not cell autonomous?