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

Question 1

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

A)ionic bond
B)phosphodiester bond
C)hydrogen bond
D)disulfide bond
E)peptide bond

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The promoter is bound by which enzyme?

A)DNA polymerase
B)RNA polymerase
C)Reverse transcriptase
D)DNase
E)RNase

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is the process of synthesizing proteins from mRNA sequences?

A)replication
B)transcription
C)translation
D)transformation
E)transduction

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Modern genetics consists of three major branches. Which of these branches, also known as "transmission genetics," involves the study of the transmission of traits and characteristics in successive generations?

A)evolutionary
B)Mendelian
C)molecular
D)population
E)reproductive

Question 5

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?

A)natural selection
B)migration
C)mutation
D)random genetic drift
E)population genetics

Question 6

Which enzyme is active in DNA replication?

A)DNA polymerase
B)RNA polymerase
C)reverse transcriptase
D)aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase
E)RNase

Question 7

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

A)natural selection
B)migration
C)mutation
D)random genetic drift
E)population genetics

Question 8

When a diploid cell divides by mitosis, the result is __________.

A)identical haploid cells
B)identical diploid cells
C)unique diploid cells
D)unique haploid cells
E)a zygote.

Question 9

What is the process of synthesizing single-stranded RNA from template DNA?

A)replication
B)transcription
C)translation
D)transformation
E)transduction

Question 10

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

A)mRNA
B)rRNA
C)tRNA
D)mRNA and rRNA
E)mRNA, rRNA, and tRNA

Question 11

Which evolutionary process involves the slow addition of allelic variation that increases the hereditary diversity of populations, ultimately leading to evolutionary change?

A)natural selection
B)migration
C)mutation
D)random genetic drift
E)population genetics

Question 12

Morphological or molecular characters shared by members of a clade are called ______.

A)common ancestors
B)paraphyletic groups
C)homoplasys
D)monophyletic groups
E)synapomorphies

Question 13

Which evolutionary process describes the movement of members of a species from one population to another?

A)natural selection
B)migration
C)mutation
D)random genetic drift
E)population genetics

Question 14

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

A)nucleus
B)nucleolus
C)nucleoid
D)nuclear envelope
E)mitochondria

Question 15

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?

A)paraphyletic group
B)phylogeny
C)species
D)monophyletic group
E)parsimony

Question 16

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

A)ionic bond
B)phosphodiester bond
C)hydrogen bond
D)disulfide bond
E)peptide bond

Question 17

What kind of bond is formed between the 5′ phosphate group of one nucleotide and the 3′ hydroxyl (OH)group of the adjacent nucleotide?

A)ionic bond
B)phosphodiester bond
C)hydrogen bond
D)disulfide bond
E)hydroxyl bond

Question 18

Watson and Crick used evidence from several studies to determine the structure of DNA. What conclusion were they able to draw from Rosalind Franklin's X-ray diffraction data, specifically?

A)DNA consists of four types of nucleotide bases: A, T, C, and G.
B)DNA nucleotides form complementary base pairs.
C)Adenine pairs with thymine and cytosine pairs with guanine when they are on opposite DNA strands.
D)DNA is a duplex, with two strands forming a double helix.
E)The DNA strands are antiparallel, and the strands are held together by hydrogen bonds.

Question 19

Sexual reproduction uses __________ to generate _______ gametes, which join at fertilization.

A)meiosis; haploid
B)mitosis; haploid
C)meiosis; diploid
D)mitosis; diploid
E)mitosis; identical

Question 20

You identify a new unicellular organism with multiple chromosomes organized by proteins within the cell's nucleus. Into which of the three domains of life might this organism fit?

A)Archaea
B)Bacteria
C)Eukarya
D)Archaea or Bacteria
E)Archaea or Eukarya

Question 21

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

Question 22

With the assistance of William Bateson, Archibald Garrod produced the first documented example of a human hereditary disorder. Which disorder were they describing?

Question 23

In retroviruses, DNA is synthesized from an RNA template using which enzyme?

Question 24

Both sugar gliders and flying squirrels have evolved characteristics that allow them to glide, despite being geographically separated. Similar traits that have independent origins arise as a result of what phenomenon?

Question 25

Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ernst Mayr drew on ideas from Darwin, Fisher, Wright, Haldane, and others to demonstrate how evolution operates in real populations. These observations led to which evolutionary genetics theory?

Question 26

What are the three domains of life?

Question 27

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?

Question 28

The physical units of heredity composed of defined DNA sequences that collectively control gene transcription and contain the information to produce RNA molecules or proteins are better known as what?

Question 29

Messenger RNA codons pair with tRNA anticodons at which cell structure?

Question 30

What type of diagram would you use to depict morphological or molecular similarities and differences that identify evolutionary relationships?

Question 31

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

Question 32

What is the sequence and polarity of the DNA strand complementary to the strand 5'AAATGTCCATGC 3'?

A)5'TTTACAGGTACG 3'
B)3' AAATGTCCATGC 5'
C)3' TTTACAGGTACG 5'
D)5'UUUACAGGUACG 3'
E)3' UUUACAGGUACG 5'

Question 33

In eukaryotes, most of the cells' DNA is found in the form of chromosomes in the nucleus. Which organelles contain their own genomes (descended from ancient endosymbiotic bacteria)?

Question 34

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

Question 35

In double-stranded DNA, the percentages of adenine and thymine are approximately equal to each other, as are the percentages of cytosine and guanine. This relationship is better known as what (named for the person who made this discovery)?

Question 36

What are the three principal components of a DNA nucleotide?

Question 37

Peptidyl transferase and other proteins power the continuous progression of the ribosome along mRNA and catalyze what type of bond formation in the growing polypeptide chain?

Question 38

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

Question 39

During DNA replication, nascent DNA strands are synthesized in only one direction. Nucleotides are added only to which end of the nascent strand?

Question 40

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

Question 41

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.

Question 42

The work of Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri suggested that the hereditary units, or genes, described by Mendel are located on ________.

Question 43

DNA replication is called ________ because the newly replicated DNA consists of a parental strand (from the original DNA)and a newly synthesized daughter strand.

Question 44

DNA strands can be pulled apart by adding heat and "melting" the double-stranded DNA. The temperature required to melt a region of DNA changes based on the base-pair composition. Based on the structure of the A-T and C-G bonds in the accompanying figure, which bonds would require more energy (heat)to break them? How might this help you predict which regions of the DNA helix may be the most stable and harder to break apart?

Question 45

What are the three major types of RNA and their functions? What would happen to translation if each type of RNA were degraded?

Question 46

Genetic experiments have revealed the relationship between the observable traits of an organism, or ________, and the genetic constitution of an organism, or ________.

Question 47

There are sixty one different codons that code for amino acids, but only twenty different amino acids, meaning that the genetic code is ________.

Question 48

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

Question 49

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

Question 50

The DNA sequence below encodes the first five amino acids of a large protein.
5' ATGTTAGGATATCAG 3'
3' TACAATCCTATAGTC 5'
a. Identify the coding and template strands.
b. Write the sequence and polarity of the mRNA transcript produced by this sequence. Where does this process occur in eukaryotes?
c. Write the amino acid sequence of the amino acids produced using the three-letter code for amino acids. (See genetic code table in text.)Where does this process occur in eukaryotes?

Question 51

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

Question 52

Describe the evolutionary relationship of lancelets to tunicates and to hagfishes. Are lancelets more closely related to tunicates or to hagfishes, or are they equally related?

Question 53

Describe what is meant by adaptive and nonadaptive evolution. Which type of evolution might be represented by the differences in the shape of finch beaks on different islands with different food sources, and which type by the presence of both attached and detached earlobes in a given population?