Past Paper

Question 1

What is the average rate per amino acid substitution used for the haemoglobin-based molecular clock?

Answer 1

14.5 million years (per amino acid substitution)

Question 2

In neutral theory, more mutations occur in a large population in total.
True or false?

Answer 2

True.

BUT each mutation has a smaller chance of drifting to fixation.

Question 3

When was Avery’s experiment?

Answer 3

1944

Question 4

What did recent experiments using C. elegans show about how fitness is affected by mutations?

Answer 4

As mutations accumulated, the fitness of the study organisms decreased.

Question 5

What two things is DNA mutation rate dependent on?

Answer 5

• Rate at which errors occur in the DNA

- Efficiency of DNA repair mechanisms

Question 6

What are fates of duplicated genes?

Answer 6

• Degeneration
• Pseudogenisation
• Subfunctionalisation
• Neofunctionalisation

Question 7

Who researched the evolution of Antifreeze proteins in Antarctic eelpout fish?

Answer 7

Deng et al (2010)

Question 8

Give a fact about the experiment on antarctic eelpout.

Answer 8

Adaptive changes and functional improvements occurred in the daughter genes after duplication.

Question 9

Approximately what percentage of the human genome is made up of transposable elements?

Answer 9

44%

Question 10

There is a correlation between genome size and WHAT in eukaryotes?

Answer 10

• Intron number

- Transposable element number

Question 11

True or false:

Parasit genomes are larger in prokaryotes.

Answer 11

FALSE.

In prokaryote genomes, there is a tendency for parasite genomes to be smaller.

Question 12

What does reverse transcriptase use as a template?

Answer 12

RNA

Question 13

In what year did Dobzhansky publish “Genetics and the Origin of Species”?

Answer 13

1937