GENETICS
State two type of RNAs.
rRNA, gRNA, tRNA, mRNA
Other RNAs may be considered.
What are 2 organelles specific to photosynthetic organisms / plant cells?
Central vacuole, chloroplasts, plasmodesmata, plastids (chromoplasts and leucoplasts)
Incorrect: cell wall (they are not considered organelles here)
What are the four major classes of biomolecules?
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids
What is the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)?
Laboratory technique used to rapidly amplify a specific segment of the DNA.
List in order from least to greatest diversity:
Genome, proteome, transcriptome
Genome, transcriptome, proteome
What is the purpose of mitochondria developing cristae?
To increase the surface area to volume ratio for efficient cellular respiration process.
OR: the oxidative phosphorylation process / extensive electron transport chain / chemiosmosis
What is the net ATP yield of glycolysis?
2
State two component involved in CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
Guide RNA (gRNA) / Cas-9 enzyme
Other Cas enzymes (12,13) may be considered.
Normally, produced mRNA goes through post-transcriptional modification in order to prevent degradation in the cytoplasm. A researcher aims to perform translational regulation in order to inhibit a certain phenotypic trait from being expressed. What process is required FIRST in order for this to happen?
A) DNA methylation and silencing
B) Decapping and polyadenylation
C) Exonuclease activity
D) Histone methylation
A
State the two sides of the Golgi Apparatus and their respective functions.
1. Cis side (entry): accepting transport vesicles containing lipids/proteins from the Endoplasmic Reticulum.
2. Trans side (exit): forming secretory vesicles for exocytosis or breakdown by the lysosome.
State 3 coenzymes that are part of either photosynthesis or cellular respiration (or both).
NADPH/NADP, NADH/NAD, FADH/FAD, Coenzyme A,
State 2 factors that impact the movement of DNA segments in gel electrophoresis
Size of DNA, charge of DNA, agarose gel concentration, applied voltage, temperature
Other answers may be considered.
Down syndrome is a ___ disorder with an error in the ___ chromosome, due to ____.
A) recessive, 21st, random mutations
B) dominant, 23rd, random mutations
C) recessive, 21st, external factors on epigenetic
D) chromosomal, 21st, non-disjunction
D
This cell has 1-2 nuclei in the central location of the cell, a branched structure, and intercalated discs. They also possess autorhythmicity. What is this cell?
A. Cardiac muscle fibers
B. Smooth muscle fibers
C. Skeletal muscle fibers
D. Type I pneumocyte
A
How does gurgling with saltwater help with sore throats? (hint: a specific transport involving cell membranes)
Saltwater is a hypertonic concentration compared to the cells located at the throat, and thus helps water to leave the throat through osmosis, lessening the swelling.
State two reasons why the PCR procedure require the usage of heat-resistant DNA polymerase.
1. The denaturation process involves high temperatures and could thus denature normal DNA-polymerase and thus prevent the process of synthesizing a new DNA strand.
2. High temperature increases the speed of reactions.
The human TPM1 gene encodes members of the tropomyosin family of cytoskeletal proteins. Which of the following best explains how different proteins can be made in different cell types from the one TPM1 gene?
A. Different introns are selectively converted to exons
B. Different exons are retained or spliced out of the primary transcript
C. The GTP cap is selectively added to and activates different exons
D. Different portions of the primary transcript remain bound to the template of DNA
B
A researcher treated cells with a novel antibiotic that specifically inhibits the elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) in bacterial ribosomes. Unexpectedly, they observed a significant reduction in mitochondrial protein synthesis but no effect on cytosolic protein synthesis. What theory does this phenomenon support?
The endosymbiotic theory
State one radioisotope used for imaging thyroid cancer.
Iodine-131, Iodine-123, Iodine-124
A researcher is attempting to clone a gene into a plasmid vector using two different restriction enzymes, EcoRI and BamHI. However, they notice that the gene fragment they've isolated has multiple EcoRI sites but only one BamHI site. Which of the following cloning strategies could be used to efficiently overcome this issue and successfully clone the gene into the vector?
A. Partial digestion of the gene fragment at the EcoRI sites
B. Site-directed mutagenesis to eliminate the EcoRI sites in the gene
C. Ligation of synthetic DNA linkers containing specific restriction sites
D. Using a different restriction enzyme that has a single cut site in the gene fragment
D