Exam 4 Flashcards
What are chromosomal aberrations and what are the types?
CHANGES IN THE NUMBER OF CHROMOSOMES
Polyploidy
- extra COMPLETE sets of chromosomes
- 3N or more
- suffix: ploid or ploidy
Aneuploidy
- extra or missing SINGLE chromosomes
- 2N+1 or 2N-1
- suffix: somy or somic
- more common (less drastic change)
CHANGES IN CHROMOSOME STRUCTURE
Changes in the number of genes
- deletions
- duplications
Changes in the location of genes (Position Effects)
- inversions
- translocations
- transpositions
- robertsonian changes
What is a position effect?
Movement of genes
Genes that are normally off get turned on when moved
or
Genes normally turned on get turned off when moved because they’re under regulatory control of surrounding genes
eg. why pancreas cells produce insulin
When does haploidy occur?
Rare in animals
- exception: bees (male haploid; females diploid)
Common in plants
- alternation of generations
- don’t do as well as diploid plants
When does triploidy occur?
Not common in animals
most common form of polyplidy in animals
- due to double fertilization (2 sperm w/ 1 egg)
- if organism survives it’s sterile (pairing of homologs in meiosis is disrupted)
- survival is very rare
What’s the difference between odd numbered and even numbered ploidy’s?
Even numbered ploidy’s (if they can survive) can reproduce b/c synapsis w/ an even number of chromosomes is easier to accomplish then an odd number
How does polyploidy affect plants?
Polyploidy generally improves viability in plants
- plants are larger, stonger
- pairing at meiosis is still problem w/ odd ploidies but can reproduce asexually also
What is the 2n+/- for tetrasomy, monosomy, trisomy? What happens the further away from 2N you get?
tetrasomy: 2N+2
monosomy: 2N-1
trisomy: 2N+1
The further away from 2N you get the less likely the creature will survive
- Pentasomy 2N+3 unlikely
What is disjunction? What is non-disjunction?
separation of homologs or chromatids
Type of aneuploidy where a random error where homologs or chromatids don’t separate
- random error so equally likely to occur to any chromosome
- gamete has 2 copies or NO copies of one chromosome
Fetus usually not viable
Work through non-disjunction at the 1st meitotic division and then the 2nd meitotic division.
Non-disjunction at 1st meiototic division:
- all gametes affected
Non-disjunction at 2nd meiototic division:
- 1/2 gametes affected
What is down syndrome?
Trisomy 21
- Aneuploidy: non-disjunction that results in two copys of chromosome 21’s
- 20% born, 20% stillborn, 60% lethal in utero
- not a genetic condition (random error) so doesn’t run in family
- higher incidence w/ maternal age (more likely the nondisjunction occured w/ mom)
What is klinefelter syndrome?
47 Chromosomes; XXY
- nondisjunction of the X chromosomes
- often asymptomatic (male)
Small testes; low testosterone
- poor secondary sex characteristics
- female characteristics
What is Jacobs syndrome?
47 chromosomes; XYY
- nondisjunction of the Y chromosomes
- “criminal chromosome”
- lower avg intelligence; learning disabilities
- above avg height + severe acne
What is Turner syndrome?
45 chromosomes; XO (monosomy)
- asymptomatic until puberty
- no puberty; lack of secondary female characteristics
What is 47 XXX?
47 chromosomes; XXX
- asymptomatic
- some sterility and some mental disabilities
Why are most of the aneuploids that survive involve the X chromosome?
The extra X chromosomes become extra barr bodies
- not really an extra entire chromosome
What is a deletion?
removal of a small gene (piece of a chromosome) in the entire organism (not just a single somatic cell)
CAUSE:
- Sometimes chromosomes just break (fragile spots or environmental causes) and rejoin w/o broken piece
- Unequal crossing over; synapsis occurs and the end result is a duplication of one gene on one chromosome and a deletion of that gene on the other chromosome
What is the difference between Prader-willi and Angelman Syndromes?
Deletions of same chromosome
Both are the result of the same part of chromosome 15 being deleted but it depnds on if the sperm or the egg had part of chromosome 15 deleted
- sperm = prader-willi
- egg = angelman
What is a duplication?
Redundant segment of a chromosome typically from unequal crossing over
- allows development of new related genes
- duplicated gene may mutate and produce new gene version (allows 1 copy to mutate)
How did different types of globin molecules arise?
Single Globin gene that worked in muscle and RBC
- then had a duplication and that results in 1 globin that works better in muscle and one that works better in RBC
- then another duplication in globin that allowed for mutation that caused two types of hemoglobin (alpha and beta)
How can you get down syndrome w/o having trisomy 21?
Having 3 copies of the Nucleolar organizer region due to a duplication causes downs
- still 2 chromosomes but have 2 copies of one region
What is an inversion?
When you take a segment of chromosome and turn it 180 degrees and reinsert it.
- could end up turning on/off these genes in the surrounding regions (position effects)
Caused by breakage and reannealing of chromosome but backwards
What are translocations?
Exchange of segments between non-homologous chromosomes
- breakage and reunion between NON-homologs
Causes impaired fertility
- only 1/3 segregations will lead to usable gametes
- fertility reduced by 2/3 because 2/3 of gametes are unbalanced
Causes formation of an octad instead of tetrad
- have crossing over
- when pulling apart so you have right amount of material in each gamete (not too much not too little)
May lead to changes in phenotype due to position effects
Translocations in specific somatic cells will cause cancer
- doesn’t need to occur throughout body
- same translocation in different somatic cell might not cause cancer (oncogenes)
What is an oncogene?
genes involved in cell proliferation
- normally only active at specific times during development then get turned off
- turn back on get cancer
What is the philadelphia chromosome?
weak spot in both chromosomes 9 & 22
- makes translocations possible
- if translocation occurs = turn on oncogene = cancer
What is burkitts lymphoma?
Translocation between chromosome 8 and 1 of 3 other chromosomes turns on oncogene
What is a transposition?
Movement of small chromosomal pieces to new area of same chromosome or to non-homologous chromosome
Transposon - small segments of DNA capable of transpositions
What is a robertsonian change?
TWO TYPES
Fusions
- 2 chromosomes join to form 1
Fissions
- 1 chromosome splits to form 2
What is familial down syndrome?
Down syndrome that is hereditary
- passed from parent to child
Robertsonian change
- fusion of chromosome 14 + 21
Carriers are phenotypically normal
- children will be 1:1:1; normal:carrier:down syndrome
What is the central dogma of molecular biology?
DNA -> RNA -> Polypeptide
- through transcription and translation
How is the cell a factory?
Cell is a factory that produces:
- structural proteins
- enzymes
Using DNA
What is a polypeptide?
chain of amino acids
- structural genes code for amino acids
- a functional polypeptide (doing something) it’s called a protein
- one gene = one polypeptide