Exam 1: The Molecular Basis of Heredity, Variation, and Evolution

What are the three principal components of a DNA nucleotide?

What is the process of synthesizing proteins from mRNA sequences?

The promoter is bound by which enzyme?

Which type(s)of RNA is/are translated into proteins?

What kind of bond is formed between successive amino acids during translation?

What process proposed by Wallace and Darwin describes the higher rates of survival and reproduction of certain forms of a species over alternative forms?

After replication, chromosomes consist of how many molecules of DNA (assuming one chromatid is equal to one molecule of DNA)?

As natural selection increases the frequency of one morphological form over another in the population, what changes at the genotypic level?

The ________, first proposed by Francis Crick, summarizes the relationships between DNA, RNA, and protein.

You obtain the following sequence data from a group of related populations: Base #: 123 456 789 Ancestral sequence: TTT CAT CCG Descendant population #1: TTG CAT CCA Descendant population #2: TTG CAT CCG Descendant population #3: TTT CAA CCG Descendant population #4: TTT CAA CGG Construct a phylogenetic tree that fits the data and requires the least amount of genetic change. Indicate where genetic changes occurred that were passed down to descendant populations.

Phylogenetic trees are constructed based on morphological characteristics, but molecular phylogenetic trees are constructed based on which feature?

What kind of bond is formed between complementary base pairs to join the two DNA strands into a double helix?

Which evolutionary process relies on the premise that individuals with the best adaptations are most successful at reproducing and leave more offspring than those with less adaptive forms?

Based on molecular evidence, the ancestor of snakes had legs. How might you explain the loss of legs in modern snakes?

Which term describes a set of organisms that descended from a single common ancestor and are more closely related to other members of the group than to organisms outside the group?

Bacteria are single-celled organisms with a single chromosome found in which cell space?

Only sixty one of the sixty four codons specify an amino acid. What is the function of the other three codons?

Which evolutionary process is most pronounced in small populations where statistical fluctuations in allele frequencies can be significant from one generation to the next?

The polarities of complementary nucleic acid strands run in opposite directions: 5′-to-3′ and 3′-to-5′. The 5′ designation refers to the placement of what chemical group on the 5′ carbon of the deoxyribose sugar?

A complete set of chromosomes is transmitted to produce identical daughter cells in which cell division process?