Questions

Question 1

Which of the following statements about the nuclear genome of eukaryotic organisms is true
a) the nuclear genomes of multicellular organisms typically have between 5000 and 10,000 protein-coding genes
b) large, complex multicellular organisms like humans typcially have larger nuclear genomes than small, simple organisms like fish
c) on average, animal and plant nuclear genomes contain around the same number of protein coding genes
d) on average, multicellular organisms have about 20x the # of protein coding genes as single-celled organisms
e) the main factor that determines “nucelar genome size” in a multicellular oganism is the # if protein-coding genes

Answer 1

c) on average, animal and plant nuclear genomes contain around the same number of protein coding genes

Question 2

During an asymmetrical cell division….are unequally distributed to the two daughter cells
a) cytoplasmic proteins
b) chromosomes
c) CREs
d) Transcription factor genes
e) all of the above

Answer 2

a) cytoplasmic proteins

Question 3

Which part of a protein-coding gene is made of short nucleic acid sequences called “codons”?
a) all introns and exons
b) all exons
c) all exon sequences execpt the UTRs
d) the promoter
e) the entire gene

Answer 3

c) all exon sequences execpt the UTRs

Question 4

Which of the following tissues does not arise from ectoderm?
a) The spinal cord
b) Skin
c) Muscle
d) Neurons

Answer 4

c) Muscle

Question 5

During limbud formation, different signals from ectoderm and mesoderm coordinate outgrowth of the limb, patterning of the digits and formation of the developed limb.
Which of the following developmental processes are taking place?
a) Mitosis
b) Cell-signaling
c) Invagination
d) Apoptosis
e) All of the above

Answer 5

e) All of the above

Question 6

Select the mutation that is incorrectly matched with its cause.

Answer 6

a) Deletion - intercalating agents
b) Indel - ionizing radiation
c) Indel - replication slippage
d) Substitution - UV radiation

Question 7

Which of the following mutations in a protein coding gene would be the LEAST likely to cause a change in the amount of protein expressed?
a) 12 basepair insertion within the promoter
b) Substitution within a protein-coding exon causing an amino acid shift: Asp to Glu
c) Single base substitution within a TBS in a CRE
d) Deletion of the poly-A signal in the 3’UTR

Answer 7

b) Substitution within a protein-coding exon causing an amino acid shift: Asp to Glu

Question 8

You are given a long sequence of eukaryotic mRNA and told it contains a single protein-coding gene. What feature would best help you find the correct open reading frame?

a) Find the one that starts with Methionine
b) Find the one that is longest without a stop codon
c) Find the start of the poly-A tail signal and scan backwards 200bp
d) Find the longest stretch of DNA divisible by three

Answer 8

b) Find the one that is longest without a stop codon

Question 9

A genome with a very high number of retrotransposon sequences would be expected to have more _____ compared to a genome with no retrotransposon sequences.

a) Duplications
b) Inversions
c) Deletions
d) Unequal crossing over
e) All of the above

Answer 9

e) All of the above

Question 10

Consider a species that normally has 8 Hox genes on a single chromosome in the order H1-H2-H3-H4-H5-H6-H7-H8. Suppose you find an individual whose Hox genes are in the following order: H1-H2-H6-H5-H4-H3-H7-H8. Which of the following chromosomal structure mutations produced this chromosome?

a) Deletion
b) Duplication
c) Inversion
d) Translocation
e) Deletion and duplication

Answer 10

c) Inversion

Question 11

When a stem cell in your spinal cord divides, it produces two daughter cells; another stem cell, and a cell that immediately differentiates into a neuron. This is caused by the asymmetrical cell division of the original stem cell. Why do the daughter cells of this cell division look and act differently from each other?
a) They inherited different portions of the mother cell’s genome
b) They inherited different portions of the mother cell’s cytoplasm
c) They inherited different transcription factor genes from the mother cell
d) They inherited different transcription factor binding sites from the mother cell
e) All of the above

Answer 11

b) They inherited different portions of the mother cell’s cytoplasm

Question 12

During the developmental process of “patterning”, cells gradually acquire their unique set of;
a) Transcription factor proteins
b) Transcription factor genes
c) Transcription specific effector genes
d) Tissue specific effector proteins
e) All of the above

Answer 12

a) Transcription factor proteins

Question 13

Asymmetrical cell division is an important aspect of the developmental process called:
a) Patterning
b) Differentiation
c) Growth
d) Morphogenesis
e) Apoptosis

Answer 13

a) Patterning

Question 14

“Codons” are short DNA sequences in the genome whose function is to encode ___:
a) Transcription factor binding sites
b) Amino acids and translation start/stop signals
c) Enhancers and promoters
d) Introns and UTRs
e) All of the above

Answer 14

b) Amino acids and translation start/stop signals

Question 15

Approximately what percentage of the human nuclear genome consists of short DNA sequences called “codons”?
a) 100%
b) 80-90%
c) 40-50%
d) 10-20%
e) 1-2%

Answer 15

e) 1-2%

Question 16

Below is the karyotype of a wildtype, diploid organism and each letter represents a chromosome:

AA BB CC DD EE FF

What mutation is displayed in an individual with AA BB CC DDD EE FF

a) Trisomy
b) Monosomy
c) Aberrant Euploidy
d) Translocation

Answer 16

a) Trisomy

Question 17

Below is the karyotype of a wildtype, diploid organism and each letter represents a chromosome:

AA BB CC DD EE FF

What mutation is displayed in an individual with AAA BBB CCC DDD EEE FFF

a) Trisomy
b) Monosomy
c) Aberrant Euploidy
d) Translocation

Answer 17

c) Aberrant Euploidy

Question 18

Below is the karyotype of a wildtype, diploid organism and each letter represents a chromosome:

AA BB CC DD EE FF

What chromosomal count is displayed here: AA BB C DD EE FF

a) (2n - 1)
b) (2n + 1)
c) 2n
d) 1n

Answer 18

a) (2n - 1)

Question 19

Which of the following chromosomal mutations is the least likely to cause a protein imbalance within the organism?

a) Trisomy on chromosome 4
b) Monosomy on chromosome 4
c) Chromosomal non-disjunction of 2 different pairs of chromosomes.
d) Aberrant Euploidy

Answer 19

d) Aberrant Euploidy

Question 20

Why can trisomies be more toxin

Answer 20

create an imbalance because not all proteins have binding partners = protein aggregates

Question 21

What type of chromosome structure mutation could produce a phenotype that mimics a trisomy

Answer 21

Duplication and deletion (wiht no duplication)

Question 22

Why are gain of function mutations rare

Answer 22

has to be very specific and rare to make something that makes it more functions

Question 23

Which of the following genetic mutations is most likely to completely inhibit the ability of a receptor protein to bind its ligand?

a) Gain-of-function mutation within a protein-coding exon
b) Loss-of-function mutation within an enhancer
c) Loss-of-function mutation within a protein-coding exon
d) Gain-of-function mutation within a promoter

Answer 23

c) Loss-of-function mutation within a protein-coding exon

Question 24

Select the option that correctly lists likely severity of the mutations listed below in order from least lethal to most lethal for the organism: (least lethal < most lethal)

1. Deletion of a single TBS of an tissue-specific enhancer for a house-keeping gene
2. Loss-of-function mutation in a protein-coding exon that totally eliminates the function of the protein encoded by a house-keeping gene
3. Deletion within a promoter that reduces transcription of a cell cycle checkpoint gene
4. Gain-of-function mutation in an enhancer that increases expression of a tissue-specific effector gene

Answer 24

1 < 4 < 3 < 2

Question 25

Which of the following type of gene is considered the least pleiotropic?

a) Developmental regulators
b) Transcription factors
c) Intercellular signaling receptor genes
d) Tissue-specific effector genes

Answer 25

d) Tissue-specific effector genes

Question 26

Which is mutation is most likely to cause a homeotic transformation?

a) Gain-of-function mutation in a CRE leading to Shh expression later in development
b) Gain-of-function mutation in a CRE that leads to expression of limb-specific genes in a new region of the embryo
c) Loss-of-function of a house-keeping gene
d) All of the above will result in homeotic transformations

Answer 26

b) Gain-of-function mutation in a CRE that leads to expression of limb-specific genes in a new region of the embryo

Question 27

Which of the following phenotypic transformations is a homeotic one?

a) increase in number of digits in a human hand
b) loss of two segments in a fruit fly embryo
c) replacement of an eye with an antenna in a crab
d) Dark body color in an adult fruit fly

Answer 27

c) replacement of an eye with an antenna in a crab

Question 28

________ mutations that occur in _____ cells can be transmitted to future generations.

a) Embryonic lethal / germline
b) Functional / germline
c) Embryonic lethal / somatic
d) Functional / somatic

Answer 28

b) Functional / germline

Question 29

Functional mutations result in a ____when they occur ____.

a) New phenotype / in germline cells
b) Mosaic phenotype / during mitosis
c) Mosaic phenotype / in cell-cycle-checkpoint genes
d) All of the above

Answer 29

d) All of the above

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true about ‘simple inheritance’?

a) Phenotypic traits in the offspring are always a perfect blend of phenotypes of the parents
b) The wildtype allele is the same for each organism at any given time
c) All phenotypes are based off the presence or absence of a dominant allele
d) Which parental allele is inherited by an individual offspring is random

Answer 30

d) Which parental allele is inherited by an individual offspring is random

Question 31

Which of the following would be considered a heritable trait?

a) Nickola Jokic’s height
b) Jamal Murray’s ability so sink threes
c) Lebron James’s tendency to cry
d) Anthony Davis’s unibrow
e) All of the above if they are partly determined by genes

Answer 31

e) All of the above if they are partly determined by genes