Unit 3
What is the name of the monomer building blocks that join together to form a polypeptide chain?
Amino acids
Which loaded coenzyme acts as an electron and proton carrier to transfer hydrogen ions and electrons to the electron transport chain during aerobic cellular respiration?
NADH (or FADH2)
What is the term for a non-cellular pathogen that consists entirely of an abnormally folded protein and contains no genetic material?
A prion
What type of immunity is acquired when a person receives a vaccination containing weakened or inactive pathogen antigens to stimulate their own adaptive immune response?
Artificial active immunity
While DNA contains deoxyribose, what five-carbon sugar is found in RNA?
Ribose
What is the name of the light-absorbing pigment found within the grana of chloroplasts that is responsible for trapping light energy during the light-dependent stage of photosynthesis?
Chlorophyll
Allergic responses and hay fever are triggered when environmental allergens bind to which specific immune cells?
Mast cells
What term describes the gradual, small mutations in viral surface antigens that accumulate over time and require individuals to get a new influenza vaccine every year?
Antigenic drift
In the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), what is the optimal temperature (in degrees Celsius) for the
elongation stage where Taq polymerase synthesises complementary DNA strands?
72°C
Which organelle is responsible for receiving proteins from the rough endoplasmic reticulum, modifying them, and packaging them into secretory vesicles for export?
The Golgi apparatus
What radioactive isotope is measured to calculate the absolute age of organic fossils that are less than approximately 50,000 years old?
Carbon-14 (or Carbon)
Which specialised immune cells of the third line of defence are responsible for destroying virus infected cells?
Cytotoxic T cells
What type of biological enzymes are referred to as "molecular scissors" because they can cut DNA at specific recognition sites?
Restriction endonucleases (or restriction enzymes)
What is the term for the entire set of proteins expressed by an organism at a given time?
The proteome
What is the name of the hole at the base of the skull through which the spinal cord passes, which became more centrally located during hominin evolution to support upright bipedalism?
Foramen magnum
What is the name of the Y-shaped proteins produced by plasma B cells that have two identical binding sites specific to a complementary antigen?
Antibodies
Cellular respiration begins with glycolysis, which produces two pyruvate molecules. In what part of the cell does this first stage occur?
The cytosol
What is the name of the regulatory system in Escherichia coli bacteria that controls the expression of structural genes involved in synthesising the amino acid tryptophan?
The trp operon
Early humans migrated onto the Australian continent roughly 50,000 to 65,000 years ago by crossing which prehistoric supercontinent that connected Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea?
Sahul
What is the term for anatomical features that have lost most or all of their original usefulness over evolutionary time, such as the human coccyx or pelvis bones in whales and dolphins?
Vestigial structures