AP Biology Exam Practice

The illustration above depicts a neuromuscular junction of a patient with an autoimmune disorder. Acetylcholine is a stimulatory neurotransmitter. Which of the following would be the most likely result of the continued presence of the antibody?

A decrease in action potentials in the muscle, causing muscle weakness and fatigue

The diagram above illustrates feedback control as exerted by the hormone thyroxine. Following surgical removal of the thyroid gland, the level of TSH in the blood will increase. Which of the following best explains this increase?

A decrease in thyroxine levels means a loss of inhibition to the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary, leading to increased TSH secretion.

the figure above shows a model of a ligand precursor being cleaved to produce an active ligand that binds to a specific receptor. Which of the following is most likely to reduce the binding of the active ligand to its receptor?

A mutation in the receptor gene that causes a substitution of a charged amino acid for a nonpolar amino acid in the ligand binding site of the receptor

In mammals, an increase in the concentration of sodium in the blood triggers the release of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) from the pituitary gland. As the concentration of sodium in the blood returns to previous levels, the release of ADH from the pituitary gland is reduced. Based on the information presented, which of the following describes the most likely role of ADH in maintaining blood osmolarity?

ADH promotes an increase in the movement of sodium into the bloodstream.

Aquaporins are channel proteins that facilitate the transport of water across the cell membrane. One group of researchers hypothesizes that without functional aquaporins, no water will be able to enter the cell. A different group proposes an alternative hypothesis, stating that even with nonfunctional aquaporins, a small amount of water will still cross the cell membrane. An experiment is set up in which plant cells with mutated (nonfunctional) aquaporins and plant cells with normally functioning aquaporins are both placed in distilled water. Which of the following data would support the alternative hypothesis?

Cells with functional aquaporins exhibit low turgor pressure and are hypertonic.

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria. In an experiment, bacteriophages were labeled with either radioactive phosphorus or radioactive sulfur. The labeled bacteriophages were incubated with bacteria for a brief amount of time and then removed. The infected bacteria cells were found to contain significant amounts of radioactive phosphorus but not radioactive sulfur. Based on the results of the experiment, which of the following types of molecules did the bacteriophages most likely inject into the bacteria cells?

DNA

A student analyzed a viral genome and found that the genome had the following nucleotide composition. • 28% adenine • 20% thymine • 35% cytosine • 17% guanine Which of the following best describes the structure of the viral genome?

Double-stranded DNA

Plant cell walls are composed of cellulose, while fungal cell walls are composed of chitin. A group of scientists hypothesize that this difference means the cell wall has largely different functions in plant cells and fungal cells. Alternatively, another group of scientists hypothesize that despite their biochemical differences, plant and fungal cell walls serve similar functions. Which of the following observations would best support the alternative hypothesis described above?

In both plant cells and fungal cells, the cell wall surrounds the outside of the cell membrane.

Which of the following questions will best direct an investigation of the mechanism of ATP synthase?

Is the phosphorylation of ADP by ATP synthase dependent on the formation of a proton gradient?

The CFTR protein is made up of 1,480 amino acids linked together in a chain. Some humans produce a version of the CFTRprotein in which phenylalanine (an amino acid) has been deleted from position 508 of the amino acid chain. Which of the following best predicts how the amino acid deletion will affect the structure of the CFTR protein?

It will affect the primary, secondary, and tertiary structures of the CFTR protein.

Which of the following statements best describes how organisms such as rabbits obtain the carbon necessary for building biological molecules?

Rabbits eat plants and break down plant molecules to obtain carbon and other atoms that they rearrange into new carbon-containing molecules.

Cholesterol is an important component of animal cell membranes. Cholesterol molecules are often delivered to body cells by the blood, which transports the molecules in the form of cholesterol-protein complexes. The complexes must be moved into the body cells before the cholesterol molecules can be incorporated into the phospholipid bilayers of cell membranes. Based on the information presented, which of the following is the most likely explanation for a buildup of cholesterol molecules in the blood of an animal?

The animal's body cells are defective in phospholipid synthesis.

An experiment to measure the rate of respiration in crickets and mice at 10o C and 25o C was performed using a respirometer, an apparatus that measures changes in gas volume. Respiration was measured in mL of O2 consumed per gram of organism over several five-minute trials, and the following data were obtained. According to the data, the mice at 10o C demonstrated greater oxygen consumption per gram of tissue than did the mice at 25o C. This is most likely explained by which of the following statements?

The mice at 10o C had a higher rate of ATP production than the mice at 25o C.

A researcher designs an experiment to investigate the effect of environmental temperature on the function of an enzyme. For each trial included in the experiment, the researcher will add the enzyme and its substrate to an aqueous buffer solution and then measure the amount of product formed over 20 minutes. Which of the following must remain the same for all trials of this experiment?

The temperature of the aqueous buffer solution

A student formulated a hypothesis that water-soluble pollutants damage living organisms by increasing the permeability of cellular membranes. To test the hypothesis, the student investigated the effect of isopropanol and acetone on beet root cells. The vacuoles of beet root cells contain large amounts of betacyanin, a water-soluble pigment that is released into the extracellular environment as a result of increased membrane permeability. The student prepared identical samples of beet root tissue and incubated each sample for 15 minutes in the specific solution for that group. At the end of the incubation period, the student measured the absorbance of 460 nm light for each sample. A greater concentration of betacyanin in the solution surrounding the beet root cells results in a greater absorbance of 460 nm light. The results of the experiment are shown in the table above. Based on the data from the investigation, which of the following is the best scientific question about organisms living in water that is polluted with organic solvents?

Will organisms living in polluted environments exhibit detrimental effects from an increased permeability of their cellular membranes?

A feature of organic compounds NOT found in inorganic compounds is the presence of

carbon atoms covalently bonded to each other

An experiment to measure the rate of respiration in crickets and mice at 10oC and 25oC was performed using a respirometer, an apparatus that measures changes in gas volume. Respiration was measured in mL of O2 consumed per gram of organism over several five-minute trials and the following data were obtained. According to the data, the crickets at 25oC have greater oxygen consumption per gram of tissue than do the crickets at 10oC. This trend in oxygen consumption is the opposite of that in the mice. The difference in trends in oxygen consumption among crickets and mice is due to their

mode of internal temperature regulation

All of the following cell components are found in prokaryotic cells EXCEPT

nuclear envelope

According to the chemiosmotic theory (chemiosmotic coupling), the energy required to move protons from the mitochondrial matrix to the intermembrane space against a concentration gradient comes most directly from

the breakdown of high-energy fatty acids in the mitochondrial matrix