Which of the following variations on translation would be most disadvantageous for a cell?
A) translating polypeptides directly from DNA
Garrod hypothesized that "inborn errors of metabolism" such as alkaptonuria occur because
A) metabolic enzymes require vitamin cofactors, and affected individuals have significant nutritional deficiencies.
Garrod's information about the enzyme alteration resulting in alkaptonuria led to further elucidation of the same pathway in humans. Phenylketonuria (PKU) occurs when another enzyme in the pathway is altered or missing, resulting in a failure of phenylalanine (phe) to be metabolized to another amino acid: tyrosine. Tyrosine is an earlier substrate in the pathway altered in alkaptonuria. How might PKU affect the presence or absence of alkaptonuria?
B) It would have no effect, because tyrosine is also available from the diet.
The nitrogenous base adenine is found in all members of which group?
C) ATP, RNA, and DNA
A particular triplet of bases in the template strand of DNA is 5' AGT 3'. The corresponding codon for the mRNA transcribed is
A) 3' UCA 5'.
The genetic code is essentially the same for all organisms. From this, one can logically assume which of the following?
A) A gene from an organism can theoretically be expressed by any other organism.
The "universal" genetic code is now known to have exceptions. Evidence for this can be found if which of the following is true?
A) If UGA, usually a stop codon, is found to code for an amino acid such as tryptophan (usually coded for by UGG only).
Which of the following nucleotide triplets best represents a codon?
D) a triplet in the same reading frame as an upstream AUG
Which of the following provides some evidence that RNA probably evolved before DNA?
D) DNA polymerase uses primer, usually made of RNA.
Which of the following statements best describes the termination of transcription in prokaryotes?
B) RNA polymerase transcribes through the terminator sequence, causing the polymerase to separate from the DNA and release the transcript.
Which of the following does not occur in prokaryotic eukaryotic gene expression, but does in eukaryotic gene expression?
C) A poly-A tail is added to the 3' end of an mRNA and a cap is added to the 5' end.
RNA polymerase in a prokaryote is composed of several subunits. Most of these subunits are the same for the transcription of any gene, but one, known as sigma, varies considerably. Which of the following is the most probable advantage for the organism of such sigma switching?
B) It might allow the polymerase to recognize different promoters under certain environmental conditions.
Which of the following is a function of a poly-A signal sequence?
B) It codes for a sequence in eukaryotic transcripts that signals enzymatic cleavage ~1035 nucleotides away.
In eukaryotes there are several different types of RNA polymerase. Which type is involved in transcription of mRNA for a globin protein?
C) RNA polymerase II
Transcription in eukaryotes requires which of the following in addition to RNA polymerase?
D) several transcription factors (TFs)
A part of the promoter, called the TATA box, is said to be highly conserved in evolution. Which of the following might this illustrate?
C) Any mutation in the sequence is selected against.
The TATA sequence is found only several nucleotides away from the start site of transcription. This most probably relates to which of the following?
A) the number of hydrogen bonds between A and T in DNA
What is a ribozyme?
B) an RNA with enzymatic activity
A transcription unit that is 8,000 nucleotides long may use 1,200 nucleotides to make a protein consisting of approximately 400 amino acids. This is best explained by the fact that
A) many noncoding stretches of nucleotides are present in mRNA.
During splicing, which molecular component of the spliceosome catalyzes the excision reaction?
C) RNA
Alternative RNA splicing
B) can allow the production of proteins of different sizes from a single mRNA.
In the structural organization of many eukaryotic genes, individual exons may be related to which of the following?
C) the various domains of the polypeptide product
In an experimental situation, a student researcher inserts an mRNA molecule into a eukaryotic cell after he has removed its 5' cap and poly-A tail. Which of the following would you expect him to find?
D) The molecule is digested by exonucleases since it is no longer protected at the 5' end.
Accuracy in the translation of mRNA into the primary structure of a polypeptide depends on specificity in the
E) bonding of the anticodon to the codon and the attachment of amino acids to tRNAs.
What is the function of GTP in translation?
A) GTP energizes the formation of the initiation complex, using initiation factors.
A mutant bacterial cell has a defective aminoacyl synthetase that attaches a lysine to tRNAs with the anticodon AAA instead of the normal phenylalanine. The consequence of this for the cell will be that
B) proteins in the cell will include lysine instead of phenylalanine at amino acid positions specified by the codon UUU.
There are 61 mRNA codons that specify an amino acid, but only 45 tRNAs. This is best explained by the fact that
B) the rules for base pairing between the third base of a codon and tRNA are flexible.
Which of the following is the first event to take place in translation in eukaryotes?
E) the small subunit of the ribosome recognizes and attaches to the 5' cap of mRNA
Which of the following is a function of a signal peptide?
D) to translocate polypeptides across the ER membrane
When translating secretory or membrane proteins, ribosomes are directed to the ER membrane by
B) a signal-recognition particle that brings ribosomes to a receptor protein in the ER membrane.
An experimenter has altered the 3' end of the tRNA corresponding to the amino acid methionine in such a way as to remove the 3' AC. Which of the following hypotheses describes the most likely result?
C) The amino acid methionine will not bind.
The process of translation, whether in prokaryotes or eukaryotes, requires tRNAs, amino acids, ribosomal subunits, and which of the following?
B) polypeptide factors plus GTP
When the ribosome reaches a stop codon on the mRNA, no corresponding tRNA enters the A site. If the translation reaction were to be experimentally stopped at this point, which of the following would you be able to isolate?
A) an assembled ribosome with a polypeptide attached to the tRNA in the P site
What is the function of the release factor (RF)?
B) It binds to the stop codon in the A site in place of a tRNA.
When the function of the newly made polypeptide is to be secreted from the cell where it has been made, what must occur?
B) Its signal sequence must target it to the ER, from which it goes to the Golgi.
Suppose that a mutation alters the formation of a tRNA such that it still attaches to the same amino acid (phe) but its anticodon loop has the sequence AAU that binds to the mRNA codon UUA (that usually specifies leucine leu).
C) One mutated tRNA molecule will be relatively inconsequential because it will compete with many "normal" ones.
Why might a point mutation in DNA make a difference in the level of protein's activity?
D) It might substitute an amino acid in the active site.
In the 1920s Muller discovered that X-rays caused mutation in Drosophila. In a related series of experiments in the 1940s, Charlotte Auerbach discovered that chemicals-she used nitrogen mustards-have a similar effect. A new chemical food additive is developed by a cereal manufacturer. Why do we test for its ability to induce mutation?
D) We want to prevent any increase in mutation frequency.
Which of the following types of mutation, resulting in an error in the mRNA just after the AUG start of translation, is likely to have the most serious effect on the polypeptide product?
B) a deletion of two nucleotides
What is the effect of a nonsense mutation in a gene?
C) It introduces a premature stop codon into the mRNA.
A frameshift mutation could result from
E) either an insertion or a deletion of a base.
Which of the following DNA mutations is the most likely to be damaging to the protein it specifies?
A) a base-pair deletion
Which small-scale mutation would be most likely to have a catastrophic effect on the functioning of a protein?
B) a base deletion near the start of a gene
The most commonly occurring mutation in people with cystic fibrosis is a deletion of a single codon. This results in
D) a polypeptide missing an amino acid.
Which of the following mutations is most likely to cause a phenotypic change?
D) a single nucleotide deletion in an exon coding for an active site
If a protein is coded for by a single gene and this protein has six clearly defined domains, which number of exons below is the gene likely to have?
C) 8
Which of the following statements is true about protein synthesis in prokaryotes?
B) Translation can begin while transcription is still in progress.
Of the following, which is the most current description of a gene?
C) a DNA sequence that is expressed to form a functional product: either RNA or polypeptide
Gene expression in the domain Archaea in part resembles that of bacteria and in part that of the domain Eukarya. In which way is it most like the domain Eukarya?
A) Domain Archaea have numerous transcription factors.
Which of the following is true of transcription in domain Archaea?
C) It is roughly simultaneous with translation.
In comparing DNA replication with RNA transcription in the same cell, which of the following is true only of replication?
E) The entire template molecule is represented in the product.
In order for a eukaryotic gene to be engineered into a bacterial colony to be expressed, what must be included in addition to the coding exons of the gene?
C) a bacterial promoter sequence
When the genome of a particular species is said to include 20,000 protein-coding regions, what does this imply?
D) There are also genes for RNAs other than mRNA.
In the transcription event of the previous DNA, where would the promoter be located?
B) to the right of the template strand
What type of bonding is responsible for maintaining the shape of the tRNA molecule?
C) hydrogen bonding between base pairs
In eukaryotic cells, transcription cannot begin until
B) several transcription factors have bound to the promoter.
Which of the following is not true of a codon?
D) It extends from one end of a tRNA molecule.
The anticodon of a particular tRNA molecule is
A) complementary to the corresponding mRNA codon.
Which of the following is not true of RNA processing?
A) Exons are cut out before mRNA leaves the nucleus.
Which component is not directly involved in translation? E) GTP
B) DNA
Which of the following mutations would be most likely to have a harmful effect on an organism?
E) a single nucleotide insertion downstream of, and close to, the start of the coding sequence