Molecular Biology Flashcards
Molecules to metabolism, Water, Carbohydrates and lipids, Proteins, Enzymes, Structure of DNA and RNA, DNA replication, transcrption and translation, Cell respiration, Photosynthesis
Define “molecular biology”
Compare the benefits of a reductionist vs. systems approach to studying biology
Recognize common functional groups
Draw skeletal molecular structures from full structure diagrams
Outline the number and type of bond carbon can form with other atoms
List the four major classes of carbon compounds used by living organisms
Define “metabolism” and “catalysis”
State the role of enzymes in metabolism
Define “anabolism”, “monomer”, and “polymer”
Describe condensation reactions
Using simple shapes to represent monomers, diagram a condensation reaction
Define “catabolism”
Contrast anabolism and catabolism
Describe hydrolysis reactions
Using simple shapes to represent monomers, diagram a hydrolysis reaction
Draw the molecules structure of urea
Describe how urea can be synthesized by living and artificial mechanisms
Draw the molecular diagram of ribose
Draw the molecular diagram of alpha-glucose
Draw the molecular diagram of a saturated fatty acid
Identify the carboxyl and methyl groups on a fatty acid
Draw the generalized structure of an amino acid
Label the amine group, carboxyl group, alpha carbon, and R group on an amino acid
Identify the four major classes of carbon compounds used by living organisms from four given diagrams (examples will include D-ribose, alpha glucose, beta glucose, triglycerides, phospholipids, and steroids)
State the generalized chemical formula for carbohydrates
Identify the following carbohydrates from molecules drawings: D-ribose, alpha glucose, beta glucose, cellulose, glycogen, amylose starch, and amylopeptin starch
Compare the relative amount of oxygen atoms in lipids to the amount in carbohydrates
Identify the following lipids from molecular drawings: triglycerides, phospholipids, and steroids
Define “vitalism”
Explain the role of urea in the falsification of vitalism
Describe the structure of an atom (in terms of protons, neutrons and electrons)
Contrast ion with atom
Define “anion” and “cation”
Contrast covalent, ionic, and hydrogen bonds
Write the molecular formula for water and draw the atomic structure of the molecule
Describe the cause effect of the polar nature of water
Describe where and how water is able to form hydrogen bonds
Contrast adhesion with cohesion
Outline an example of the cohesive property of water being of benefit to life
Outline an example of the adhesive property of water being of benefit to life
Explain three thermal properties of water that are useful to living organisms
Outline a benefit to life of water’s high specific heat capacity
Outline a benefit to water’s high latent heat of vaporization
Outline a benefit to life of water’s high boiling point
Explain why water is such a good solvent
List the types of molecules that water will dissolve
State that polar and ionic molecules are hydrophilic
State that non-polar, non-ionic molecules are hydrophobic
Given a diagram of a molecular structure, determine if the molecule is hydrophilic or hydrophobic
Compare the physical properties of methane and water
Explain why water and methane have different thermal properties based on their molecular structures
Explain sweating as a mechanism to cool the body
State if the following molecules are hydrophobic or hydrophilic: glucose, amino acids, cholesterol, fats, oxygen, and sodium chloride
Hydrophobic:
Hydrophilic:
Outline the mechanism of transport in the blood in the following molecules: glucose, amino acids, cholesterol, fats, oxygen, and sodium chloride
State why scientists cannot prove without a doubt that hydrogen bonds exist between water molecules.
Define “monosaccharide”, “disaccharide” and “polysaccharide”
List three examples of monosaccharides
List three examples of disaccharides
List three examples of polysaccharides
Use molecular diagrams to draw the formation of maltose from two glucose monomers
Explain a condensation reaction connecting two monosaccharides in the formation of a disaccharide
Describe the differences between saturated and unsaturated (mono- or poly-) fatty acids
Describe the differences between cis- and trans- fatty acids
Outline the difference between fats and oils
State two functions of triglycerides
Explain a condensation reaction connecting fatty acids and glycerol to form a triglyceride
Explain the energy storage of lipids compared to that of carbohydrates
State the structural difference between alpha and beta glucose
Contrast the structure and functions of cellulose, amylose, amylopectin and glycogen
Discuss the relationship between saturated fatty acid and trans-unsaturated fat intake and rates of coronary heart disease
Define evaluation in respect to evidence from and methods of research
Outline the manner in which the implications of research can be assessed
Outline the manner in which the limitations of research can be assessed
Evaluate a given health claim made about lipids
Demonstrate use of JMol to view molecular structures, including changing image size, rotating the image and changing the style of the molecular model
Identify carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms by color
Determine BMI using a nomogram
Outline effects of a BMI that is too high or too low.
Calculate BMI using the formula
Describe how the effect of lipids on health can be assessed scientifically
Describe polypeptide chain formation in terms of the formation of peptide bonds and condensation reactions
Determine the number of peptide bonds given the number of amino acids in a polypeptide
Define dipeptide, oligopeptides and polypeptide
State the number of amino acids used by living organisms to make polypeptides
Given an image of an amino acid, classify the amino acid chemical properties based on R group properties
Outline the role vitamin C plays in the conversion of proline to hydroxyproline
Calculate the possible number of amino acid sequences given n number of amino acids
Outline the relationship between genes and polypeptides
Outline the structure and function of three example proteins composed of two or more polypeptides linked together
Contrast the structure of globular proteins with the structure of fibrous proteins
Describe the structure of membrane bound globular proteins
Contrast the generalized function of globular proteins with generalized function of fibrous proteins
List ten functions of proteins in a cell or organism
Describe the function of enzyme proteins
Describe the function of hormone proteins.
Describe the function of immunoglobulin proteins
Describe the function of pigment proteins
Describe the function of structural proteins
Define proteome
Contrast proteome with genome
State the function of each of the following proteins: rubisco, insulin, immunoglobulin, rhodopsin, collagen, spider silk, actin, myosin, casein, hemoglobin, acetylcholine receptor, oxytocin, prolactin, ferritin, billirubin, fibrinogen, transferrin and albumin
Rubisco:
Insulin:
Immunoglobin:
Rhodopsin:
Collagen:
Spider silk:
Actin:
Myosin:
Casein:
Hemoglobin:
Acetylcholine receptor:
Oxytocin:
Prolactin:
Ferritin:
Bilirubin:
Fibrinogen:
Transferrin:
Albumin:
Define “denaturation”
Outline the effect of heat and pH on protein structure
Draw peptide bond formation in a condensation reactions
Explain the trend of organisms assembly of polypeptides from the same amino acids
Describe a discrepancy of the trend of all organisms using the same amino acids to assemble polypeptides
State the relationship between enzyme substrate and enzyme active site
Explain the relationship between enzyme structure and enzyme specificity, including the role of the active site
Explain the role of random collisions in the binding of the substrate with the enzyme active site
Outline the three stages of enzyme activity
Describe the induced fit model of enzyme action
Explain how temperature affects the rate of enzyme activity
Draw a graph of depicting the effect of temperature on the rate of enzyme activity
Explain how pH affects the rate of enzyme activity
Draw a graph of depicting the effect of pH on the rate of enzyme activity
Identify the optimum temperature or pH for enzyme activity on a graph
Explain how substrate concentration affects the rate of enzyme activity
Draw a graph of depicting the effect of substrate concentration on the rate of enzyme activity
State the effect of denaturation on enzyme structure and function
List industries that use commercially useful enzymes
Explain how and why industrial enzymes are often immobilized
State the source of the lactase enzyme used in food processing
State the reaction catalyzed by lactase
Outline four reasons for using lactase in food processing
Identify and manipulated, responding and controlled variables in descriptions of experiments testing the activity of enzymes
Describe three techniques for measuring the activity of an example enzyme
State the two types of nucleic acid
DNA and RNA
Outline the parts of a nucleotide
Identify and label carbons by number (for example, C1, C2, C3) on a nucleotide drawing
Explain how nucleotides can connect to form a nucleic acid polymer
State the names of the nitrogenous bases found in DNA and RNA.
Adenine, Thymine (DNA) / Uracil (RNA), Guanine, Cytosine,
Identify nitrogenous bases as either a pyrimidine or purine
State the complementary base pairing rules
Adenine - Thymine
Cytosine - Guanine
Compare the structure of DNA and RNA
Define antiparallel in relation to DNA structure
Outline the formation of a DNA double helix by hydrogen bonding between nitrogenous bases
Identify the four bases of DNA based on the numbers of rings (purines or pyrimidines) and the number of hydrogen bonds it can form.
State the number of nitrogenous bases per complete turn of the DNA double helix
Outline the role of Chargaff, Watson, Crick, Franklin and Wilkins in the discovery of DNA structure
Explain how Watson and Crick used model building to determine the structure of DNA
Draw the basic structure of a single nucleotide (using circle, pentagon and rectangle)
Draw a simple diagram of the structure of RNA
Draw a simple diagram of the structure of DNA
Identify and label the 5’ and 3’ ends on a DNA or RNA diagram
List types of models used in science
State a common feature of models in science
List ways in which models are different from the structure or process it represents
Describe the meaning of “semi-conservative” in relation to DNA replication
Explain the role of complementary base pairing in DNA replication
State why DNA strands must be separated prior to replication
Outline two functions of helicase
State the role of the origin of replication in DNA replication
Describe the movement of DNA polymerase along the DNA template strand
Contrast the number of origins in prokaryotic cells to the number in eukaryotic cells
Describe the action of DNA polymerase III in pairing nucleotides during DNA replication
Define “transcription”
Outline the process of transcription, including the role of RNA polymerase and complementary base pairing
Identify the sense and antisense strands of DNA given a diagram of translation
Define “translation”
State the location of translation in the cell
Outline the role of messenger RNA in translation
Define “codon”, “redundant”, and “degenerate” as related to the genetic code
Explain how using a 4 letters nucleic acid “language” can code for a “language” of 20 amino acid letters in proteins
Outline the role of complementary base pairing between mRNA and tRNA in translation
Outline the process of the PCR
Explain the use of Taq DNA polymerase in the PCR
Outline the source and use of pharmaceutical insulin prior to the use of gene transfer technology
Outline the benefits of using gene transfer technology in the production of pharmaceutical insulin
Use a genetic code table to deduce the mRNA codon(s) given the name of an amino acid
Compare dispersive, conservative and semi-conservative replication
Predict experimental results in the Meselson and Stahl experiment if DNA replication was dispersive, conservative or semi-conservative
Use a genetic code table to determine the amino acid sequence coded for by a given antisense DNA sequence or an mRNA sequence.
Deduce the antisense DNA base sequence that was transcribed to produce a given mRNA sequence
Describe the procedure of the Meselson and Stahl experiment
Explain how the Meselson and Stahl experiment demonstrated semi-conservative DNA replication
State the types of organic compounds used in cellular respiration by animals and plants
Define “cell respiration”
Outline energy transfer in the formation and use of ATP
State the reaction for cellular respiration
State three example uses of cellular energy
Define “anaerobic respiration”
State three reasons why cellular respiration must be continuously performed by all cells
List three situations in which anaerobic respiration is useful.
Compare anaerobic respiration in yeasts and humans
State the location of aerobic respiration.
Compare the total amount of ATP made from anaerobic and aerobic respiration
Outline how anaerobic respiration in yeast is used in baking
Outline how anaerobic respiration in yeast is used in ethanol production
State the condition in which humans would perform anaerobic respiration
Outline production of lactate in humans during anaerobic respiration
Outline the use of a respirometer to measure cellular respiration rate
State the chemical equation for photosynthesis
List ethical questions that must be considered before using animals in experiments
Define “photosynthesis”
State the relationship between wavelength and energy
State that the oxygen produced in photolysis is a waste product of photosynthesis
Define “visible light”
State the range of wavelengths that fall within the visible spectrum
Define “pigment”
State the primary and accessory pigments found in chloroplasts
Explain why plants are green.
Define “photolysis”
State the equation for photolysis
State the energy conversion that occurs during photosynthesis
Define “limiting factor”
Explain how the following factors limit the rate of photosynthesis: temperature, light intensity, and CO2 concentration
State that (some) prokaryotes, algae and plants carry out photosynthesis
Define and state evidence for the “Great Oxidation Event”
Describe the shape of the curve for an absorption spectrum
Distinguish between an action spectrum and an absorption spectrum
List mechanism for measuring the rate of photosynthesis
Describe the shape of the curve for an action spectrum
Outline the process of separating pigments using chromatography
Calculate the Rf value for pigments using pigment chromatography
Define independent variable, controlled variable and responding variable
