Biology-12 : 5 : Molecular Basis of Inheritance - Flashcards
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What is the genetic material in the majority of organisms?
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DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid).
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| # | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What is the genetic material in the majority of organisms? | DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). |
| 2 | Name additional roles of RNA besides acting as a messenger. | Adapter, structural, and catalytic roles. |
| 3 | What are the three components of a nucleotide? | Nitrogenous base, pentose sugar, and phosphate group. |
| 4 | Which nitrogenous base is common to both DNA and RNA? | Cytosine. |
| 5 | What is formed when phosphate attaches to a nucleoside? | Nucleotide. |
| 6 | Which end of a polynucleotide chain has a free OH group? | 3' end. |
| 7 | Which nitrogenous base is present in RNA in place of thymine? | Uracil. |
| 8 | Who proposed the Double Helix model of DNA? | James Watson and Francis Crick. |
| 9 | Why can the sequence of one DNA strand predict the sequence of the other strand? | Because the two strands are complementary. |
| 10 | In which direction do the two DNA strands run? | Anti-parallel direction. |
| 11 | In which fashion are the two DNA strands coiled? | Right-handed fashion. |
| 12 | Who proposed the Central Dogma of molecular biology? | Francis Crick. |
| 13 | Why is DNA packaging necessary in cells? | Because DNA length is far greater than the size of the nucleus. |
| 14 | Which proteins are responsible for DNA organisation in eukaryotes? | Histones. |
| 15 | What structure is formed when DNA wraps around histone octamer? | Nucleosome. |
| 16 | Which proteins are required for higher level chromatin packaging? | Non-histone chromosomal (NHC) proteins. |
| 17 | What was the major unanswered question before 1926 regarding inheritance? | Which molecule acts as the genetic material. |
| 18 | Why do R strain bacteria appear rough? | Because they lack the polysaccharide coat. |
| 19 | What happened when live R strain and heat-killed S strain were injected together into mice? | The mice died. |
| 20 | Which molecule transformed live R cells into S cells? | DNA. |
| 21 | Which scientists provided unequivocal proof that DNA is the genetic material? | Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase. |
| 22 | Why did Hershey and Chase use radioactive phosphorus in one set of viruses? | Because DNA contains phosphorus. |
| 23 | Why are proteins not labelled by radioactive phosphorus in Hershey-Chase experiment? | Because proteins do not contain phosphorus. |
| 24 | What was observed in bacteria infected with viruses having radioactive proteins? | The bacteria were not radioactive. |
| 25 | Which nucleic acid mainly performs dynamic functions like messenger and adapter roles? | RNA. |
| 26 | Why should genetic material be chemically and structurally stable? | So it does not change during life cycle, age, or physiological changes. |
| 27 | Which nitrogenous base provides additional stability to DNA? | Thymine. |
| 28 | Why is DNA dependent on RNA? | DNA requires RNA for protein synthesis. |
| 29 | Which essential life processes evolved around RNA? | Metabolism, translation, and splicing. |
| 30 | What is semiconservative DNA replication? | Each daughter DNA contains one parental and one newly synthesised strand. |
| 31 | How long does *E. coli* take to divide? | 20 minutes. |
| 32 | Which enzyme is the main enzyme involved in DNA replication? | DNA-dependent DNA polymerase. |
| 33 | What is the approximate rate of DNA polymerisation in *E. coli*? | Approximately 2000 bp per second. |
| 34 | Besides DNA polymerase, what else is required for DNA replication? | Additional enzymes for high accuracy. |
| 35 | Which enzyme joins discontinuously synthesised DNA fragments? | DNA ligase. |
| 36 | Which strand undergoes discontinuous replication? | The strand with template polarity 5' → 3'. |
| 37 | Why are vectors required in recombinant DNA procedures? | Because they provide the origin of replication. |
| 38 | During transcription, adenine pairs with which base in RNA? | Uracil. |
| 39 | What are the three regions of a transcription unit? | Promoter, structural gene, and terminator. |
| 40 | Why is the coding strand called so? | Because its sequence resembles the RNA sequence. |
| 41 | What is the function of the terminator? | It defines the end of transcription. |
| 42 | What type of structural genes are mostly found in prokaryotes? | Polycistronic genes. |
| 43 | What are regulatory genes? | Regulatory sequences loosely defined as genes though they do not code for RNA or protein. |
| 44 | How many DNA-dependent RNA polymerases are present in bacteria? | One. |
| 45 | What happens when RNA polymerase reaches the terminator region? | Nascent RNA and RNA polymerase fall off, ending transcription. |
| 46 | Which RNA polymerase transcribes rRNA in eukaryotes? | RNA polymerase I. |
| 47 | Why are primary transcripts in eukaryotes non-functional? | Because they contain both exons and introns. |
| 48 | Where is processed mRNA transported after processing? | Out of the nucleus for translation. |
| 49 | How many codons are possible with a triplet code? | 64 codons. |
| 50 | What is the nature of the genetic code? | Triplet. |
| 51 | How is the genetic code read in mRNA? | In a contiguous manner without punctuation. |
| 52 | Name the three stop codons. | UAA, UAG, and UGA. |
| 53 | What happens when one or two bases are inserted or deleted? | The reading frame changes from that point onward. |
| 54 | What was tRNA originally called? | sRNA (soluble RNA). |
| 55 | Are there tRNAs for stop codons? | No. |
| 56 | What is the effect of deleting one base from a genetic code sequence? | It alters the reading frame from the point of deletion. |
| 57 | Which part of tRNA reads the genetic code? | Anticodon loop. |
| 58 | What is required for peptide bond formation? | Energy. |
| 59 | In inactive state, ribosomes exist as what? | Large and small subunits. |
| 60 | What is a translational unit in mRNA? | Sequence between start codon and stop codon coding for a polypeptide. |
| 61 | Which tRNA recognises the start codon AUG? | Initiator tRNA. |
| 62 | What happens after translation termination? | Complete polypeptide is released from the ribosome. |
| 63 | Which level of gene expression regulation involves movement of mRNA from nucleus to cytoplasm? | Transport level. |
| 64 | Why is beta-galactosidase not synthesised in absence of lactose? | Because the enzyme is unnecessary without lactose as energy source. |
| 65 | What are regulatory proteins that increase transcription called? | Activators. |
| 66 | What is an operon? | Arrangement where polycistronic structural genes are regulated by common promoter and regulatory genes. |
| 67 | What does the i gene code for? | Repressor of the lac operon. |
| 68 | What does the y gene code for? | Permease. |
| 69 | Why is lactose called an inducer? | Because it switches the lac operon on and off. |
| 70 | Where does the repressor protein bind in lac operon? | Operator region. |
| 71 | Regulation of lac operon can also be viewed as regulation of what? | Enzyme synthesis by its substrate. |
| 72 | What does HGP stand for? | Human Genome Project. |
| 73 | Why is Human Genome Project called a mega project? | Due to enormous genome size, cost, and data involved. |
| 74 | Which new field of biology developed rapidly with HGP? | Bioinformatics. |
| 75 | Which sectors were expected to benefit from technologies developed during HGP? | Industries and other sectors. |
| 76 | Knowledge of DNA variations among individuals may help in what? | Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders. |
| 77 | Why is genomic DNA fragmented before sequencing? | Because very long DNA molecules cannot be sequenced directly. |
| 78 | What does YAC stand for? | Yeast Artificial Chromosome. |
| 79 | What were specialised computer programs used for in HGP? | Sequence alignment and analysis. |
| 80 | Which information helped generate genetic and physical maps of the genome? | Polymorphism of restriction endonuclease sites and microsatellites. |
| 81 | What is the size of the dystrophin gene? | 2.4 million bases. |
| 82 | What makes up a large portion of the human genome? | Repeated sequences. |
| 83 | Which chromosome contains the fewest genes? | Y chromosome. |
| 84 | What will understanding DNA sequences help explain in future research? | Biological systems and interconnected gene/protein networks. |
| 85 | What are repetitive DNA sequences? | Small stretches of DNA repeated many times. |
| 86 | Name different categories of satellite DNA. | Microsatellites and minisatellites. |
| 87 | Why is DNA fingerprinting useful in paternity testing? | DNA polymorphisms are inherited from parents to children. |
| 88 | In which DNA regions are mutations more likely to accumulate without harmful effects? | Non-coding DNA sequences. |
| 89 | What does VNTR stand for? | Variable Number of Tandem Repeats. |
| 90 | Which technique separates DNA fragments in DNA fingerprinting? | Electrophoresis. |
| 91 | Why do VNTRs show high polymorphism? | Because the copy number varies among chromosomes and individuals. |
| 92 | In which individuals is DNA fingerprint pattern identical? | Monozygotic (identical) twins. |
| 93 | What is the major role of RNA in cells? | Transfer and expression of genetic information. |
| 94 | Which bases pair through three hydrogen bonds? | Guanine and Cytosine. |
| 95 | Why can bacterial mRNA be translated immediately after transcription? | Because it is already functional and requires no processing. |
| 96 | Which molecule reads the genetic code during translation? | tRNA. |
| 97 | Why is translation considered to have evolved around RNA? | Because RNA performs catalytic and informational roles. |
| 98 | Which metabolic process is controlled by lac operon? | Lactose metabolism. |
| 99 | Name major applications of DNA fingerprinting. | Forensic science, genetic biodiversity studies, and evolutionary biology. |
| 100 | If the coding strand sequence is 5'-ATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGCATGC-3', what will be the mRNA sequence? | 5'-AUGCAUGCAUGCAUGCAUGCAUGCAUGC-3'. |
| 101 | Which experiment proved DNA as genetic material? | Hershey-Chase experiment. |
| 102 | What is the function of tRNA? | It transports amino acids and reads genetic code through anticodon. |
| 103 | What are exons? | Coding sequences that appear in mature RNA. |