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Biology
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Essential Cell Biology
Quiz 1: Cells: The Fundamental Units of Life
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Question 41
Essay
Evolutionary biologists have always used a broad range of modern organisms to infer the characteristics that ancestral organisms may have possessed.Genomic sequences are now available for an increasing number of species, and scientists studying evolutionary processes can take advantage of this enormous amount of data to bring evolution into the arena of molecular studies.By aligning the sequences of homologous genes and looking for regions of similarity and where changes have occurred, it is possible to infer the sequence of the ancestral gene. A.What term is used to describe the changes in gene sequences that have occurred? How can we use what we know about this process to construct a time line showing when various sequence changes occurred and when they led to the modern sequences that we know today? B.It is possible to express an ancestral gene sequence in modern organisms and subsequently compare the function of its product with that of the modern protein.Why might this approach give misleading conclusions?
Question 42
Essay
Cellular processes are often regulated by unknown mechanisms.In many cases, biologists work backward in an attempt to understand a process in which they are interested.This was the case when Nurse and Hartwell were trying to understand how cell division is controlled in yeast.Describe the process by which they "broke" the system and then supplied the "missing parts" to get the cell cycle running again.What further evidence did they collect to show that human cells and yeast cells regulate the cell cycle using a similar mechanism?
Question 43
Matching
Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.If the statement is false, explain why it is false.
Premises:
Responses:
Lysosomes are small organelles where fatty acid synthesis occurs.
False
The number of mitochondria inside a cell remains constant over the life of the cell.
True
Membrane components in the cell are made in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Premises:
Lysosomes are small organelles where fatty acid synthesis occurs.
The number of mitochondria inside a cell remains constant over the life of the cell.
Membrane components in the cell are made in the endoplasmic reticulum.
Responses:
False
True
Question 44
Essay
Genes that have homologs in a variety of species have been discovered through the analysis of genome sequences.In fact, it is not uncommon to find a family of homologous genes encoding proteins that are unmistakably similar in amino acid sequence in organisms as diverse as budding yeast, archaea, plants, and humans.Even more remarkably, many of these proteins can substitute functionally for their homologs in other organisms (i.e., if we delete a native gene and replace it with a homologous gene from another species, the protein will be produced and its function preserved).Use your understanding of evolution to explain how this is possible.
Question 45
Essay
For each of the following sentences, fill in the blanks with the best word or phrase selected from the list below.Not all words or phrases will be used; each word or phrase should be used only once.
chloroplast
cytosol
nucleus
chromosome
endoplasmic reticulum
ribosomes
cytoskeleton
mitochondrion
\begin{array}{lll}\text { chloroplast } & \text { cytosol } & \text { nucleus } \\\text { chromosome } & \text { endoplasmic reticulum } & \text { ribosomes } \\\text { cytoskeleton } & \text { mitochondrion } &\end{array}
chloroplast
chromosome
cytoskeleton
cytosol
endoplasmic reticulum
mitochondrion
nucleus
ribosomes
Eukaryotic cells are bigger and more elaborate than prokaryotic cells.By definition, all eukaryotic cells have a __________, usually the most prominent organelle.Another organelle found in essentially all eukaryotic cells is the __________, which generates the chemical energy for the cell.In contrast, the __________ is a type of organelle found only in the cells of plants and algae, and performs photosynthesis.If we were to strip away the plasma membrane from a eukaryotic cell and remove all of its membrane-enclosed organelles, we would be left with the __________, which contains many long, fine filaments of protein that are responsible for cell shape and structure, and thereby form the cell's __________.
Question 46
Essay
Generate an analogy to describe the cell as the simplest unit of life to somebody who has not studied biology.Be sure to incorporate the observable features of living organisms, which distinguishes them from inanimate objects.
Question 47
Matching
Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.If the statement is false, explain why it is false.
Premises:
Responses:
Thermal energy promotes random movement of proteins, vesicles, and small molecules in the cytosol.
False
Plants do not require a cytoskeleton because they have a cell wall that lends structure and support to the cell.
True
The cytoskeleton is used as a transportation grid for the efficient, directional movement of cytosolic components.
Premises:
Thermal energy promotes random movement of proteins, vesicles, and small molecules in the cytosol.
Plants do not require a cytoskeleton because they have a cell wall that lends structure and support to the cell.
The cytoskeleton is used as a transportation grid for the efficient, directional movement of cytosolic components.
Responses:
False
True
Question 48
Essay
Cellular populations in bacterial colonies and the human body both start with single founder cells, yet these two collections of cells are vastly different.What is the primary reason for these differences?
Question 49
Short Answer
For each of the following sentences, fill in the blanks with the best word or phrase selected from the list below.Not all words or phrases will be used; each word or phrase should be used only once.
amino acids
micrometer(s)
viruses
DNA
millimeter(s)
yeast
fatty acids
plants
meter
plasma membranes
\begin{array}{lll}\text { amino acids } & \text { micrometer(s) } & \text { viruses } \\\text { DNA } & \text { millimeter(s) } & \text { yeast } \\\text { fatty acids } & \text { plants } & \\\text { meter } & \text { plasma membranes } &\end{array}
amino acids
DNA
fatty acids
meter
micrometer(s)
millimeter(s)
plants
plasma membranes
viruses
yeast
Cells can be very diverse: superficially, they come in various sizes, ranging from bacterial cells such as Lactobacillus, which is a few __________ in length, to larger cells such as a frog's egg, which has a diameter of about 1 __________.Despite the diversity, cells resemble each other to an astonishing degree in their chemistry.For example, the same 20 __________ are used to make proteins.Similarly, the genetic information of all cells is stored in their __________.Although __________ contain the same types of molecules as cells, their inability to reproduce themselves by their own efforts means that they are not considered living matter.
Question 50
Matching
Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.If the statement is false, explain why it is false.
Premises:
Responses:
Primitive plant, animal, and fungal cells probably acquired mitochondria after they diverged from a common ancestor.
True
Protozoans are single-celled eukaryotes with cell morphologies and behaviors that can be as complex as those of some multicellular organisms.
False
The first eukaryotic cells on Earth must have been aerobic; otherwise, they would not have been able to survive when the planet's atmosphere became oxygen-rich.
Premises:
Primitive plant, animal, and fungal cells probably acquired mitochondria after they diverged from a common ancestor.
Protozoans are single-celled eukaryotes with cell morphologies and behaviors that can be as complex as those of some multicellular organisms.
The first eukaryotic cells on Earth must have been aerobic; otherwise, they would not have been able to survive when the planet's atmosphere became oxygen-rich.
Responses:
True
False
Question 51
Matching
Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.If the statement is false, explain why it is false.
Premises:
Responses:
The human genome is roughly 30 times larger than the Arabidopsis genome, but contains approximately the same number of protein-coding genes.
False
The variation in genome size among protozoans is larger than that observed across all species of mammals, birds, and reptiles.
True
The vast majority of our genome encodes functional RNA molecules or proteins and most of the intervening DNA is nonfunctional.
Premises:
The human genome is roughly 30 times larger than the Arabidopsis genome, but contains approximately the same number of protein-coding genes.
The variation in genome size among protozoans is larger than that observed across all species of mammals, birds, and reptiles.
The vast majority of our genome encodes functional RNA molecules or proteins and most of the intervening DNA is nonfunctional.
Responses:
False
True
Question 52
Essay
The protozoan Didinium feeds on other organisms by engulfing them.Describe the cellular characteristics necessary to feed this way and explain why this is not a mechanism by which bacteria can acquire energy.Are bacteria, in general, unable to feed on other cells in this way?
Question 53
Matching
Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.If the statement is false, explain why it is false.
Premises:
Responses:
The nucleus of an animal cell is round, small, and difficult to distinguish using light microscopy.
False
The cytosol is fairly empty, containing a limited number of organelles, which allows room for rapid movement via diffusion.
True
The extracellular matrix is the space between individual cells and is exclusively composed of proteins.
Premises:
The nucleus of an animal cell is round, small, and difficult to distinguish using light microscopy.
The cytosol is fairly empty, containing a limited number of organelles, which allows room for rapid movement via diffusion.
The extracellular matrix is the space between individual cells and is exclusively composed of proteins.
Responses:
False
True
Question 54
Essay
Describe the benefits and limitations of utilizing electron microscopy to understand biological systems.
Question 55
Short Answer
Number the following cells based on when they are believed to have evolved. ___ anaerobic eukaryote ___ aerobic prokaryote ___ anaerobic prokaryote ___ photosynthetic eukaryote ___ aerobic eukaryote ___ photosynthetic prokaryote
Question 56
Essay
The antibiotic streptomycin inhibits protein synthesis in bacteria.If this antibiotic is added to a culture of animal cells, protein synthesis in the cytosol continues normally.However, over time, the population of mitochondria in the cell becomes depleted.Specifically, it is observed that the protein-synthesis machinery inside the mitochondria is inhibited. A.Explain this observation based on what you know about the origins of the modern eukaryote. B.What do you expect to observe if, in a new experiment, animal cells are treated with diphtheria toxin, a compound that is known to block cytosolic protein synthesis but does not have any impact on bacterial growth?
Question 57
Essay
You fertilize egg cells from a healthy plant with pollen (which contains the male germ cells) that has been treated with DNA-damaging agents.You find that some of the offspring have defective chloroplasts, and that this characteristic can be passed on to future generations.This surprises you at first because you happen to know that the male germ cell in the pollen grain contributes no chloroplasts to the fertilized egg cell and thus to the offspring.What can you deduce from these results?
Question 58
Essay
Employ the principles of evolution discussed in this chapter to explain how the specific features and predatory behaviors of some primitive eukaryotes may have given them a selective advantage over others 1.5 billion years ago.