New Frontiers in Evolutionary Biology

Question 1

How are genes regulated?

Answer 1

Epigenetics

Question 2

How do genes evolve over time?

Answer 2

Genome Evolution

Question 3

What do gene sequences tell us about evolutionary relationships between species?

Answer 3

Molecular Phyogenetics

Question 4

What are the functions of the genes in an organism ?

Answer 4

Systems biology and bioinformatics

Question 5

How do genes guide embryological development ?

Answer 5

Evolutionary Development

Question 6

A computer algorithm and software package that allows researchers to quickly upload and compare sequences from species against online databases of samples from other species in hopes of finding homologous sequences

Answer 6

BLAST

Question 7

Determining the location of every gene on a chromosome, as well as the function of every gene

Answer 7

Gene Mapping

Question 8

Calculating the accumulation of sequence differences between diverse species following a sequence alignment

Answer 8

Sequence Divergence

Question 9

Collecting sequence samples from many different individuals from the same species to create a “consensus “ sequence that identifies the genes that are shared by all individuals of that species

Answer 9

Reference Sequences

Question 10

Collecting and compiling information from reference sequences to create a complete sequence of all the nucleotides, in order, found on every chromosome of a species.

Answer 10

Whole Genome Sequence

Question 11

Genetically modifying a sequence of DNA to include a mutation that inactivates a gene in a model organism so researchers can see what effect that broken gene has on the phenotype of the organism

Answer 11

Gene Knock outs

Question 12

Arranging sequence data from multiple different species to find where sequences overlap and where homologs are present , as well as where changes to the sequences have accumulated.

Answer 12

Sequence Alignment

Question 13

What is true about the evolution of genomes ?

Answer 13

Studying genomes allows for the comparison of diverse taxa even if they do not share any morphological similarities

Question 14

UUU changes to UUA

Answer 14

NON- synonymous

Question 15

GGU changes to GGC

Answer 15

Synonymous

Question 16

UAC changes to UAG

Answer 16

NON- synonymous

Question 17

UAA changes to UAG

Answer 17

Synonymous

Question 18

UAU changes to UAC

Answer 18

Synonymous

Question 19

Kimura’s Neutral Theory

Answer 19

• Many mutations are selectively neutral
  -Neutral mutations can be influenced by genetic drift
• Mutations occur by chance
• Many mutations are not acted upon by selection

Question 20

The snc5 gene codes for a protein that activates the expression of the hrmp1 gene

Answer 20

Regulatory Gene

Question 21

A sequence of DNA that does not code for the formation of a protein, but has other functions within the genome

Answer 21

Non- coding gene

Question 22

A gene that codes for a protein that is needed to build structures or perform functions within a cell

Answer 22

Structural Gene

Question 23

A gene that codes for regulatory proteins that can activate or de-activate other genes

Answer 23

Regulatory Gene

Question 24

A transposon, that can move and interrupt gene sequences, leading to dysregulation or a loss of gene expression

Answer 24

Non- coding gene

Question 25

The gene that codes for the protein Titin, which is a critical component of muscle cells and tissues

Answer 25

Structural gene

Question 26

Cell differentiation and specialization

Answer 26

-Genes that control and regulate the expression of structural genes determine what features a cell will have - Changes to gene expression and regulation can cause a normal cell to become cancerous - Cancer cells are dysregulated cells that have lost their cell specialization due to improper gene expression - Changes in gene expression and regulation can have major effects on the phenotype of a cell

Question 27

The gene HoxA4 is present and activated in species as distantly related as sea urchins, fruit flies , fish and mammals

Answer 27

Evo- Devo rule 2

Question 28

The silencing of genes in skin cells that produce hair follicles due to the binding of methyl groups leads to the absence of hair in some mammal species

Answer 28

Epigenetics

Question 29

A mutation in homebox gene HoxA7 leads to the development of a 4th set of legs on a fruit fly

Answer 29

Evo Devo rule 1