Biology 1002B Study Guide - Chlamydomonas, Electron Transport Chain, Photon

Ploidy refers to the number of complete sets of chromosomes (genes) present in a cell. The number of chromosomes in a complete set is a fixed characteristic of a species. Humans are diploid with two sets of 23 chromosomes. Fruit flies are diploid with two sets of 4 chromosomes. Sexually reproducing organisms are diploid, each somatic cell of an organism has two complete sets ("di" is a prefix indicating 2.). To complete a life cycle and reproduce new members of a species, mating is required. Mating brings a donation from a male and a donation from a female together. However, if the male and female cells remain diploid, the fertilization will result in a tetraploid zygote. In general, these are not viable. A mechanism is needed to form special haploid cells, gametes. The diploid set is split precisely into two complete haploid sets. That mechanism is meiosis.

The complete set of chromosomes of a species is also the complete set of genes of a species, the genome. (Yes, there is a minor contribution from mitochondria and chloroplasts. Inheritance of this information is "cytoplasmic".)

Please answer the following questions:

1. How many chromosomes in a brain cell of a fruit fly? How many chromosomes are in a liver cell of a human? Explain both answers.

2. How many chromosomes are in a fruit fly unfertilized egg? How many chromosomes are in a human egg? Explain both answers.

3. Why is meiosis necessary for sexually reproducing organisms? How many chromosomes are in a human zygote? Relate the two answers.

4. What is a gene allele? Suppose there is a gene called "bingo" and it is present once in a complete haploid set. How many alleles of "bingo" does a diploid individual have? How many copies or versions of the gene "bingo" are present in a diploid individual?

5. Modern DNA sequencing clearly identifies alleles by showing the different DNA sequence of each allele. These alleles may be termed structural alleles (I coined the term for this problem.). Classical genetics only dealt with phenotypes or visible traits. As a result, alleles of genes were identified by functionality, usually normal or non-functional. Using your knowledge of gene structure and gene expression, postulate a relationship between structural alleles and functional alleles. (include relative amounts; more, less, or equal).

Messenger RNA (mRNA)...

a) Is a structural part of a ribosome

b) Brings amino acids to DNA

c) Carries genetic information from the nucleus to the cytoplasm

d) Is a structural part of a chromosome

e) Initiates and directs chemical reactions

Mr. Potato is homozygous dominant (KK), his son, Potato Jr. is heterozygous (Kk). Based on this information, what are the possible genotypes for Mrs. Potato? (Hint: use a Punnet Square).

a) Her genotype is definitely kk

b) Her genotype is either Kk or kk

c) Her genotype is either KK or Kk

d) Her genotype is either KK, or Kk, or kk

e) Mr. Potato cannot be Potato Jr’s biological father

12. Homologous chromosomes:

a) Are members of different chromosome pairs

b) Are genetically identical

c) Carry genetic information that influences the same traits (same genes but probably different alleles)

d) Are only inherited from the mother

e) Are only inherited from the father.

“Fitness” in an evolutionary sense, refers to an individual’s:

a) Strength

b) Reproductive success

c) Aggressiveness

d) Size

e) Age at death

The fact that individuals who possess favorable traits are more likely to survive and reproduce than those who possess less favorable traits is the basis for the theory of...

a) uniformitarianism.

b) natural selection.

c) the inheritance of acquired characteristics.

d) catastrophism.

e) the fixity of species.

Even with strong selection, genetic variation of a population can be maintained because:

a) Selection only affects one gene at a time.

b) The effects of many alleles are hidden from selection by the effects of other alleles

c) Mutation constantly adds new alleles at an extremely fast rate.

d) Populations always go extinct before their gene frequencies are dramatically altered.

e) Only a and c

Gene Flow is defined as the:
a) Production of new alleles
b) New musical group in which Adam Levine will be the leading vocalist
c) Exchange of genes between populations
d) differential reproductive success of individuals
e) Process by which a DNA base gets extracted out of the nucleus to initiate the process of protein synthesis.

The basic unit of DNA is a molecule called a: a) Nucleotide

b) Base
c) Thymine
d) Prokaryoticcell e) mRNA

How many bases code for one amino acid? a) one

b) two
c) it depends on what amino acid it is d) three
e) four

Hemophilia is a condition that affects: a) more females than males
b) more males than females
c) females and males equally

d) only children born prematurely
e) individuals with a missing portion of chromosome number 5

A clear example of directional selection is:
a) Darwin finches with deeper and thicker beaks associated to a severe drought b) Sickle cell anemia in regions in which Malaria is endemic
c) Achondroplasticdwarfism
d) Fly halteres becoming fully developed wings after modification of a hox gene e) all of the above

Meiosis is evolutionarily significant because:
a) New combination of alleles can arise through independent assortment and crossing over

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b) It is the mechanism by which body tissues are repaired
c) It creates somatic cells that are crucial for our body organs to maintain us alive d) It allows forensics to determine the cause of death of unidentified people
e) none of the above

Homologous chromosomes:

a) Are exact copies of each other and contain exactly the same genetic material
b) Are members of different chromosome pairs
c) Are only inherited from the father
d) carry genetic information that influences the same traits (the same genes), however, each of the homologous chromosomes can contain different versions of the same gene (different alleles).

e) carry genetic information that influences different traits because each of the homologous chromosomes contains completely different genes at very different loci

How many chromosome pairs occur in a normal human somatic cell?

a) 46 b) 23 c) 22 d) 24 e) 45

What is the scientific method? Use bullet points to describe the 4 major components.

How is a hypothesis different from a theory?

List the four major components (described during class) necessary for natural selection to occur [AKA Darwin’s Four Postulates] (PDF1-3).

27. Who was Thomas Malthus? In what way(s) Malthus was influential for Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection? Hint: populations vs resources.

29. What amino acids are being coded for by the gene segment provided below? Nucleotide triplets and their corresponding amino acids are:
ACA= Cysteine; AAA=Phenylalanine; TGG=Threonine; CCT=Glycine; GAT=Leucine; ATA=Tyrosine; AGG=Serine; TCT=Arginine

a) Threonine, serine, glycine, tyrosine, leucine, phenylalanine, arginine, cysteine.

b) Tyrosine, leucine, glycine, threonine, arginine, threonine, serine, cysteine.

c) Arginine, cysteine, serine, glycine, threonine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine.

d) Phenylalanine, leucine, tyrosine, glycine, serine, threonine, cysteine, arginine.

e) Phenylalanine, leucine, tyrosine, glycine, threonine, phenylalanine, arginine, serine.