Question 1

Barbara McClintock,who achieved fame for discovering that genes could move within genomes,had her meticulous work ignored for nearly four decades,but eventually won the Nobel Prize.Why was her work so distrusted?

Accepted Answer

A)  The work of women scientists was still not allowed to be published.
B)  Geneticists did not want to lose their cherished notions of DNA stability.
C)  There were too many alternative explanations for transposition.
D)  She allowed no one else to duplicate her work.
E)  She worked only with maize, which was considered "merely" a plant. B

Question 2

Researchers at the University of British Columbia are working on a way to analyze gene expression within a single cell as it differentiates.This is significant because

Accepted Answer

A)  cDNA libraries could be made.
B)  tissue identification would be easier.
C)  RNA is needed to understand expression and probing a cell as it undergoes differentiation is impossible at this point.
D)  DNA within a single cell is difficult to extract.
E)  generation of totipotent adult stem cells would be possible. C

Question 3

Approximately how many bacterial genomes are in the process of being sequenced?

Accepted Answer

A)  10
B)  100
C)  2 000
D)  5 000
E)  15 000 D

Question 4

Human and chimpanzee share most of their nucleotide sequence yet exhibit significant phenotypic differences.What is likely to be the most important sequence differences between these two species?

Accepted Answer

A)  structural genes
B)  the number of repeated sequences
C)  regulatory sequences
D)  environmental factors
E)  introns

Question 5

What is metagenomics?

Accepted Answer

A)  genomics as applied to a species that most typifies the average phenotype of its genus
B)  the sequence of one or two representative genes from several species
C)  the sequencing of only the most highly conserved genes in a lineage
D)  sequencing DNA from a group of species from the same ecosystem
E)  genomics as applied to an entire phylum

Question 6

A multigene family is composed of

Accepted Answer

A)  multiple genes whose products must be coordinately expressed.
B)  genes whose sequences are very similar and that probably arose by duplication.
C)  the many tandem repeats such as those found in centromeres and telomeres.
D)  a gene whose exons can be spliced in a number of different ways.
E)  a highly conserved gene found in a number of different species.

Question 7

What characteristic of short tandem repeat DNA makes it useful for studying evolution?

Accepted Answer

A)  The number of repeats varies widely from person to person or animal to animal.
B)  The sequence of DNA that is repeated varies significantly from individual to individual.
C)  The sequence variation is acted upon differently by natural selection in different environments.
D)  Every racial and ethnic group has inherited different short tandem repeats.
E)  Each short tandem repeat can be correlated with a specific disease.

Question 8

What is proteomics?

Accepted Answer

A)  the linkage of each gene to a particular protein
B)  the study of the full protein set encoded by a genome
C)  the totality of the functional possibilities of a single protein
D)  the study of how amino acids are ordered in a protein
E)  the study of how a single gene activates many proteins

Question 9

A recent report has indicated several conclusions about comparisons of our genome with that of Neanderthals.This report concludes,in part,that,at some period in evolutionary history,there was a mixture of the two genomes.This is evidenced by

Accepted Answer

A)  some Neanderthal sequences not found in humans.
B)  a small number of modern H. sapiens with Neanderthal sequences.
C)  Neanderthal Y chromosomes preserved in the modern population of males.
D)  mitochondrial sequences common to both groups.
E)  lack of FOXP2 in humans

Question 10

Bioinformatics includes all of the following except

Accepted Answer

A)  using computer programs to align DNA sequences.
B)  analyzing protein interactions in a species.
C)  using molecular biology to combine DNA from two different sources in a test tube.
D)  developing computer-based tools for genome analysis.
E)  using mathematical tools to make sense of biological systems.

Question 11

Use the following figure to answer the next few questions.
  
This figure shows a diagram of blocks of genes on human chromosome 16 and the locations of blocks of similar genes on four chromosomes of the mouse.
-How might identical and obviously duplicated gene sequences have gotten from one chromosome to another?

Accepted Answer

A)  by normal meiotic recombination
B)  by normal mitotic recombination between sister chromatids
C)  by transcription followed by recombination
D)  by chromosomal translocation
E)  by deletion followed by insertion

Question 12

Studies in knockout mice have demonstrated an important role of the FOXP2 transcription factor in the development of vocalizations.Recent sequence comparisons of the FOXP2 gene in Neanderthals and modern humans show that while the DNA sequence may be different,the protein sequence it codes for is identical.What might be logically inferred from this information?

Accepted Answer

A)  There was a problem with the experiment because different DNA sequences cannot result in the same protein sequence.
B)  The differences in DNA sequence support the hypothesis that Neanderthals were primitive beings that could only grunt.
C)  Human and Neanderthal vocalizations may have been more similar than previously thought.
D)  The experiments in mice demonstrating the function of the FOXP2 gene are not relevant to humans and Neanderthals because mice are not primates.
E)  Vocalizations were not important for Neanderthals.

Question 13

Homeotic genes

Accepted Answer

A)  encode transcription factors that control the expression of genes responsible for specific anatomical structures.
B)  are found only in Drosophila and other arthropods.
C)  are the only genes that contain the homeobox domain.
D)  encode proteins that form anatomical structures in the fly.
E)  are responsible for patterning during plant development.

Question 14

Which of the following can be duplicated in a genome?

Accepted Answer

A)  DNA sequences above a minimum size only
B)  DNA sequences below a minimum size only
C)  entire chromosomes only
D)  entire sets of chromosomes only
E)  sequences, chromosomes, or sets of chromosomes

Question 15

Use the following information to answer the questions below.
You have isolated a gene sequence from the mustard plant Arabidopsis and have BLAST searched the NCBI database.Your sequence hit several EST sequences that were identified as transcription factors.These sequences were found in E.coli,Chlamydomonas (a green algae),yeast,mice,and humans and only had a few base pair differences.
-What can be surmised about your transcription factor?

Accepted Answer

A)  It is likely involved in a universal metabolic function.
B)  There is not enough information to conclude anything.
C)  It is unique to Arabidopsis.
D)  It is part of a large gene family.
E)  It is a transgene.

Question 16

After finding a new medicinal plant,a pharmaceutical company decides to determine if the plant has genes similar to those of other known medicinal plants by annotating the genome of the new plant.Why does the company do this?

Accepted Answer

A)  to determine what proteins are produced
B)  to determine what mRNA transcripts are produced
C)  to identify genes and determine their functions
D)  to identify the location of mRNA within the plant cells
E)  to determine the location of the plants introns

Question 17

One of the characteristics of retrotransposons is that

Accepted Answer

A)  they code for an enzyme that synthesizes DNA using an RNA template.
B)  they are found only in animal cells.
C)  they generally move by a cut-and-paste mechanism.
D)  they contribute a significant portion of the genetic variability seen within a population of gametes.
E)  their amplification is dependent on a retrovirus.

Question 18

Which of the following most correctly describes a shotgun technique for sequencing a genome?

Accepted Answer

A)  genetic mapping followed immediately by sequencing
B)  physical mapping followed immediately by sequencing
C)  cloning large genome fragments into very large vectors, followed by sequencing
D)  cloning several sizes of fragments into various size vectors, sequencing the clone and then ordering them
E)  cloning the whole genome directly, from one end to the other

Question 19

In order to determine the probable function of a particular sequence of DNA in humans,what might be the most reasonable approach?

Accepted Answer

A)  Prepare a knockout mouse without a copy of this sequence and examine the mouse phenotype.
B)  Genetically engineer a mouse with a copy of this sequence and examine its phenotype.
C)  Look for a reasonably identical sequence in another species, prepare a knockout of this sequence in that species, and look for the consequences.
D)  Prepare a genetically engineered bacterial culture with the sequence inserted and assess which new protein is synthesized.
E)  Mate two individuals heterozygous for the normal and mutated sequences.

Question 20

In comparing the genomes of humans and those of other higher primates,it is seen that humans have a large metacentric pair we call chromosome 2 among our 46 chromosomes,whereas the other primates of this group have 48 chromosomes and any pair like the human chromosome 2 pair is not present; instead,the primate groups each have two pairs of midsize acrocentric chromosomes.What is the most likely explanation?

Accepted Answer

A)  The ancestral organism had 48 chromosomes and at some point a centric fusion event occurred and provided some selective advantage.
B)  The ancestral organism had 46 chromosomes, but primates evolved when one of the pairs broke in half.
C)  At some point in evolution, human ancestors and primate ancestors were able to mate and produce fertile offspring, making a new species.
D)  Chromosome breakage results in additional centromeres being made in order for meiosis to proceed successfully.
E)  Transposable elements transferred significantly large segments of the chromosomes to new locations.

Exam 21: Genomes and Their Evolution