Deck 10: The Structure and Function of DNA

Question 1

Evidence for the spiral nature of DNA came from ______.

A) X-ray crystallography studies
B) studies of disease-causing bacteria
C) base rule studies
D) bacteriophage studies

Answer 1

A

Question 2

In a DNA double helix,adenine pairs with ______ and guanine pairs with ______.

A) cytosine... thymine
B) guanine... adenine
C) thymine... cytosine
D) uracil... cytosine

Answer 2

C

Question 3

How many amino acids are common to all living systems?

A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 100

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The backbone of DNA consists of ______.

A) nitrogenous bases
B) a repeating sugar-nucleotide-sugar-nucleotide pattern
C) a repeating sugar-phosphate-sugar-phosphate pattern
D) paired nucleotides

Question 5

If adenine makes up 20% of the bases in a DNA double helix,what percent of the bases are guanine?

A) 60%
B) 40%
C) 20%
D) 30%

Question 6

Which of the following enzymes is responsible for RNA synthesis?

A) RNase
B) RNA helicase
C) RNA ligase
D) RNA polymerase

Question 7

RNA contains the nitrogenous base ______ instead of ______,which is only found in DNA.

A) a deoxyribose sugar... a ribose sugar
B) uracil... thymine
C) uracil... guanine
D) thymine... uracil

Question 8

Thymine and cytosine differ from adenine and guanine in that

A) thymine and cytosine are single-ring structures, whereas adenine and guanine are double-ring structures.
B) thymine and cytosine are only found in DNA, whereas adenine and guanine are found in both DNA and RNA.
C) thymine and cytosine are only found in DNA, whereas adenine and guanine are only found in RNA.
D) thymine and cytosine are larger nitrogenous bases.

Question 9

After replication,______.

A) each new DNA double helix consists of two old strands
B) each new DNA double helix consists of one old strand and one new strand
C) each new DNA double helix consists of two new strands
D) one new DNA double helix consists of two old strands and the other new DNA double helix consists of two new strands

Question 10

DNA replication

A) is a slow process that results in virtually no errors.
B) requires DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase.
C) is a very fast process that results in numerous errors.
D) requires the cooperation of over a dozen enzymes and other proteins.

Question 11

Transcription is the ______.

A) manufacture of a strand of RNA complementary to a strand of DNA
B) manufacture of two new DNA double helices that are identical to an old DNA double helix
C) modification of a strand of RNA prior to the manufacture of a protein
D) manufacture of a protein based on information carried by RNA

Question 12

If a strand of DNA has the sequence AAGCTC,transcription will result in a(n)______.

A) single RNA strand with the sequence TTCGAG
B) DNA double helix with the sequence AAGCTC for one strand and TTCGAG for the complementary strand
C) single RNA strand with the sequence UUCGAG
D) RNA double helix with the sequence UUCGAG for one strand and AAGCUC for the complimentary strand

Question 13

What type of chemical bond joins the bases of complementary DNA strands?

A) ionic
B) covalent
C) hydrophilic
D) hydrogen

Question 14

The shared genetic code of all life on Earth is evidence that ______.

A) the genetic code arose relatively late in the history of life on Earth
B) DNA replication is error-free
C) all life shares a common ancestry
D) bacterial cells arose earlier than eukaryotic cells

Question 15

What name is given to the collection of traits exhibited by an organism?

A) holotype
B) genotype
C) phenotype
D) morphology

Question 16

The modern phrasing of Beadle and Tatum's hypothesis about relationships between genes and their products is "one gene-one ______."

A) enzyme
B) RNA
C) protein
D) polypeptide

Question 17

If one strand of a DNA double helix has the sequence GTCCAT,what is the sequence of the other strand?

A) ACTTGC
B) TGAACG
C) CAGGTA
D) CAGGUA

Question 18

DNA and RNA are polymers composed of ______ monomers.

A) nucleotide
B) carbohydrate
C) fatty acid
D) amino acid

Question 19

Who discovered the structure of DNA?

A) Pauling
B) Watson and Crick
C) Franklin
D) Hershey and Chase

Question 20

How many nucleotides make up a codon?

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 21

Peptide bonds form between ______.

A) amino acids
B) an mRNA codon and a tRNA anticodon
C) a tRNA and the amino acid it is carrying
D) an mRNA transcript and the small ribosomal subunit

Question 22

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)must use its own ______ to reproduce.

A) DNA polymerase
B) reverse transcriptase
C) RNA polymerase
D) tRNA

Question 23

The expressed (coding)regions of eukaryotic genes are called ______.

A) caps
B) promoters
C) exons
D) introns

Question 24

Translation converts the information stored in ______ to ______.

A) DNA... RNA
B) RNA... a polypeptide
C) DNA... a polypeptide
D) RNA... DNA

Question 25

The figure below shows the flow of genetic information in a eukaryotic cell.The transfer of information from DNA into an RNA molecule is known as ______.

A) DNA replication
B) transcription
C) polypeptide
D) translation

Question 26

A mutation within a gene that will insert a premature stop codon in mRNA would ______.

A) result in a polypeptide that is one amino acid shorter than the one produced prior to the mutation
B) result in a shortened polypeptide chain
C) change the location at which transcription of the next gene begins
D) have the same effect as deleting a single nucleotide in the gene

Question 27

The DNA codon AGT codes for an amino acid carried by a tRNA with the anticodon ______.

A) TCU
B) AGU
C) TCA
D) AGT

Question 28

Where is translation accomplished?

A) lysosomes
B) smooth endoplasmic reticulum
C) ribosomes
D) nucleoli

Question 29

The correct sequence of events occurring during transcription is ______.

A) splicing, capping, tailing
B) initiation, elongation, termination
C) tailing, capping, splicing
D) elongation, initiation, termination

Question 30

What is the smallest number of nucleotides that must be added or subtracted to change the triplet grouping of the genetic message?

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 31

Plant viruses ______.

A) often use RNA, rather than DNA, as their genetic material
B) benefit plants, rather than causing disease
C) cause diseases that can be easily cured
D) do not exist-viruses only attack animals

Question 32

What protects mRNA from attack by cellular enzymes?

A) RNA splicing
B) the removal of exons
C) the lack of RNA-digesting enzymes in the cytoplasm
D) a cap and tail

Question 33

Mad cow disease is caused by

A) a retrovirus similar to HIV.
B) an enveloped virus.
C) small circular RNA molecules called viroids.
D) infectious proteins called prions.

Question 34

How can bacteriophage DNA be spread from cell to cell without causing cell death?

A) by altering the way a cell splices its RNA
B) via a lytic cycle
C) via a lysogenic cycle
D) by altering its DNA

Question 35

The RNA that is translated into a polypeptide is ______ RNA.

A) nuclear
B) ribosomal
C) transfer
D) messenger

Question 36

During translation,what is the correct order of events that occur as an amino acid is added?

A) codon recognition, peptide bond formation, translocation
B) translocation, codon recognition, termination
C) initiation, codon recognition, termination
D) peptide bond formation, translocation, codon recognition

Question 37

The region of DNA where RNA synthesis begins is the ______.

A) start codon
B) promoter
C) initiator
D) processor

Question 38

A(n)______ is to bacteria as a ______ is to animal cells.

A) retrovirus... virus
B) phage... prophage
C) prophage... provirus
D) RNA virus... DNA virus

Question 39

The absence of a terminator in transcription will result in ______.

A) the creation of a virus
B) a strand of mRNA that lacks its cap and tail
C) the production of a longer RNA molecule
D) the production of a shorter RNA molecule

Question 40

What is the ultimate source of all diversity?

A) natural selection
B) sexual recombination
C) meiosis
D) mutation

Question 41

Please read the following scenario to answer the following question(s).
While working with cultured mouse cells, a researcher unknowingly treated the cells with a mutagen that causes the deletion or insertion of individual nucleotides in DNA. Subsequently, she isolated and cultured a single cell from this group. She noticed that the progeny of this cell were not producing a certain protein and that this affected their survival.
The mutation that resulted from her accident was probably ______.

A) an amino acid substitution
B) one that changed the triplet grouping of the genetic message
C) an error in translation
D) a loss in regulation of gene expression

Question 42

Please read the following scenario to answer the following question(s).
If you were asked to study the pattern of bacterial growth (increase in numbers over time) during an infection, you would find that numbers of bacteria increase exponentially up to a certain point. Assume that you have been asked to interpret the growth of bacteriophages. You infect the host bacteria and measure the increase of phages over a defined period of time. You plot the results and get the graph shown here.

The first thing you notice is that there is no immediate increase in viruses following infection.This is because ______.

A) it takes the virus time to adapt to the host
B) although the virus has infected the host, it takes time to complete the lytic cycle
C) the host is immune to the virus
D) the virus is in a lysogenic cycle throughout the experiment

Question 43

Please read the following scenario to answer the following question(s).
If you were asked to study the pattern of bacterial growth (increase in numbers over time) during an infection, you would find that numbers of bacteria increase exponentially up to a certain point. Assume that you have been asked to interpret the growth of bacteriophages. You infect the host bacteria and measure the increase of phages over a defined period of time. You plot the results and get the graph shown here.

Once viruses are detected,the number of viruses increases rapidly.This is because ______.

A) lysogeny produces large numbers of bacteriophages
B) DNA viruses reproduce more rapidly than RNA viruses
C) the host cell speeds the release process
D) the viruses lyse the hosts to release mature viruses all at once

Question 44

Examine the genetic code table,shown below.The codon AGC codes for the amino acid ______.

A) serine
B) arginine
C) threonine
D) alanine

Question 45

Please read the following scenario to answer the following question(s).
While working with cultured mouse cells, a researcher unknowingly treated the cells with a mutagen that causes the deletion or insertion of individual nucleotides in DNA. Subsequently, she isolated and cultured a single cell from this group. She noticed that the progeny of this cell were not producing a certain protein and that this affected their survival.
The mutation would be most harmful to the cells if it resulted in ______.

A) a single nucleotide insertion near the start of the coding sequence
B) a single nucleotide deletion near the end of the coding sequence
C) a single nucleotide in the middle of an intron
D) deletion of a triplet near the middle of the gene

Question 46

Consider the following figure.It indicates that a single amino acid substitution ______.

A) always involves adenine and uracil
B) may alter a protein so that it no longer functions properly
C) is a silent mutation
D) causes a nonsense mutation