Final Exam Questions

Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals. Both male and female African elephants have tusks that are a significant source of ivory used for ornaments and jewelry. Assuming that the size of the tusks is heritable, which of the following is the most likely long-term effect of poachers targeting African elephants with large tusks?

A decrease in average tusk size because elephants with large tusks are less likely to survive to reproduce

The figure illustrates a model of the molecules involved in DNA replication and their placement relative to each other. Which of the following correctly explains where DNA replication will begin on the strand oriented 5'→3' , reading from left to right?

DNA replication will be initiated immediately to the left of the RNA , since DNA polymerase requires an RNA primer.

A survey reveals that 25 percent of a population of 1,000 individuals have attached earlobes (are homozygous recessive for the trait). For the following questions, assume that the population fits the parameters of the Hardy-Weinberg law. If p equals the frequency of the dominant allele and q equals the frequency of the recessive allele, which of the following terms represents the frequency of the individuals who show the dominant phenotype?

p2 + 2pq (p squared plus 2pq)

Which of the following statements supports the idea that all life on Earth is related?

- Codons are conserved across all species, that is CUU always encode leucine. - All living organisms use DNA to store genetic information - The process of transcription is essentially the same in prokaryotes and eukaryotes

mRNA undergoes several steps before it is mature and ready to use for translation. Which of the following must happen. (Select all that apply)

- introns are removed and exons are joined together - a 5' cap is added - a 3' poly A tail is added

Gaucher disease type 1 ( GD1 ) is a recessive genetic disease that affects 1 in 900 individuals in a particular population. GD1 is caused by a mutation in the enzyme glucocerebrosidase. Assuming the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, calculate the frequency of the wild-type (nonmutant) allele for the enzyme glucocerebrosidase.

0.967

One of the oldest known mammalian fossils belongs to a small furry species, Hadrocodium wui, that lived 195 million years ago. For the following 100 million years, only a small number of groups of mammalian fossils are found in the fossil record. By 65 million years ago, the nonavian dinosaurs were extinct. By 55 million years ago, there were 130 mammal genera, including 4,000 different species that occupied a wide variety of habitats. Which of the following best describes the cause of the rapid increase in the number of mammalian species between 65 and 55 million years ago?

After the dinosaur extinction, many ecological niches became available, leading to the speciation of mammals.

A current challenge for doctors involves the bacterial strain Clostridioides difficile, which no longer responds to traditional antibiotic treatments. Which of the following best explains why this particular strain of bacteria is resistant to antibiotic treatment?

All bacterial species have high genetic variability and high reproductive rates.

Which of the following is probably the best explanation for the fact that Antarctic penguins cannot fly, although there is evidence that millions of years ago their ancestors could do so?

Ancestral penguins without large wings were better able to swim and feed in the water; therefore they passed their genes for shorter wing structure on to their offspring.

Ancient climatic analysis has generated a claim that there is a possible correlation between an extinction event around 29 million years ago that allowed grasslands to become abundant and the evolution of several groups of butterflies. Which of the following proposes the best alternative hypothesis for the claim?

Climate analysis conducted by sampling pollen preserved in amber shows an increase in grass pollen 29 million years ago, which indicates there was an increase in grasslands that correlates to an increase in butterfly speciation during the same time period.

The figure below illustrates processes related to control of transcription and translation in a cell. Which of the following scientific claims is most consistent with the information provided in the figure.

Different genes may be regulated by the same transcription factor.

Scientists conducted a transformation experiment using E. coli bacteria and the pTru plasmid. Samples of pTru plasmid (lane A) and the chromosomal DNA from two different E. coli strains that the scientists attempted to transform (lane B and lane C) were compared using gel electrophoresis. The results are shown in figure 1. Which of the following statements best explains the experimental results observed in the figure above?

E. coli in lane C have been successfully transformed and contain additional genetic information.

Some cells release active signaling proteins when membrane-bound precursor proteins are cleaved by proteolytic enzymes. The signaling proteins can then bind to receptors on the surface of a target cell, thereby activating an intracellular signaling pathway and eliciting a response from the target cell. This mechanism of activating receptor-binding signaling proteins has been observed in a variety of organisms from bacteria to humans. Many of the enzymes responsible for proteolysis of membrane-bound precursor proteins have been isolated and characterized. Which of the following questions would be most appropriate to investigate whether the proteolytic enzymes are evolutionarily conserved among species?

If a proteolytic enzyme from one species is incubated with a precursor protein from another species, does correct cleavage occur?

While there is only one species of Galápagos Island tortoise, there are several subspecies. Larger islands with more wet highlands have lush vegetation near the ground. Tortoises there tend to have high-domed shells and shorter necks, which restrict upward head movement. They also have shorter limbs. They are the heaviest and largest of the subspecies. Smaller, drier islands are inhabited by tortoises with longer necks and limbs and with shells that are elevated above the neck, which allow them to browse taller vegetation. Based on the information given, which of the following is the most plausible explanation for the ancestry of the tortoise subspecies?

Individuals with different adaptations in shell shape and leg length best exploited the food resources and left more surviving offspring on each island.

Chytridiomycosis is a potentially lethal fungal infection that adversely affects some frog populations. The incidence and severity of the fungal infection can vary over time. Which of the following statements best describes the changes in the frog population that are depicted in the model below?

Infected individuals gradually died out, and genetically resistant individuals became more common. The frog population recovered because of the increased frequency of resistant individuals.

A model that represents a process occurring in a cell of a particular organism is shown in Figure 1. Which of the following correctly explains the process shown in Figure 1 ?

Initiation of transcription is occurring because a strand of RNA is being produced from a DNA template strand.

Both liver cells and lens cells have the genes for making the proteins albumin and crystalline. However, only liver cells express the blood protein albumin and only lens cells express crystalline, the main protein in the lens of the eye. Both of these genes have enhancer sequences associated with their promoters. The claim that gene regulation results in differential gene expression and influences cellular products (albumin or crystalline) is best supported by evidence in which of the following statements?

Liver cells possess transcriptional activators/transcription factors that are different from those of lens cells

The bird, Parus major, is commonly found in man-made habitats. During the summer these birds primarily feed on insects, and in the winter, when insects are scarce, they forage in gardens and bird feeders for seeds, nuts, and berries. Recently, climate change has led to a decrease in food available from gardens, and scientists have observed that the average beak length of the birds has increased. Which of the following best explains the directional shift in beak length in these birds?

Longer beaks allow the birds to better access seeds in bird feeders.

What polypeptide would be generated based upon the following mRNA sequence? 5' AUG UCU UCG UUA 3'

Met-Ser-Ser-Leu

Over several years, bacteria were isolated from members of a human population and tested for antibiotic resistance. The percent of bacterial isolates that were found to be antibiotic resistant is presented in the graph below for each year of the study. Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information presented in the graph?

Natural selection over multiple generations is favoring antibiotic resistance in the population of bacteria.

Which of the following best explains what is shown in the figure below?

New DNA strands are being synthesized in the 5' to 3' direction from their DNA templates.

Researchers observed selected internal structures of four different microscopic organisms as part of a larger study on the divergence between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Their observations are recorded in Figure 1. Which organism would the researchers most likely predict to be the most distantly related to eukaryotes?

Organism I

Scientists investigated the role that beak depth plays in the ability of one species of seed-eating finch to reproduce. The scientists calculated the average beak depth of finches in mating pairs and then observed whether or not the pairs produced at least one offspring that survived to the next season. The data are represented in Figure 1. Based on the data in Figure 1, which of the following best describes the concept illustrated?

Parental pairs with a specific beak depth had the highest reproductive fitness.

Which of the following statements best explains the structure and importance of plasmids to prokaryotes?

Plasmids are circular, double-stranded DNA molecules that provide genes that may aid in survival of the prokaryotic cell.

Genetic engineering techniques can be used when analyzing and manipulating DNA and RNA. Scientists used gel electrophoresis to study transcription of gene L and discovered that mRNA strands of three different lengths are consistently produced when the gene was transcribed.

Pre- mRNA of gene L is subject to alternative splicing, so three mRNA sequences are possible.

Erwin Chargaff investigated the nucleotide composition of DNA. He analyzed DNA from various organisms and measured the relative amounts of adenine ( A ), guanine ( G ), cytosine ( C ), and thymine ( T ) present in the DNA of each organism. Table 1 contains a selected data set of his results. What did Chargaff conclude?

Since the %A and the %T are approximately the same in each sample, adenine and thymine molecules must pair up in a double-stranded DNA molecule.

Antibiotics interfere with prokaryotic cell functions. Streptomycin is an antibiotic that affects the small ribosomal subunit in prokaryotes. Specifically, streptomycin interferes with the proper binding of tRNA to mRNA in prokaryotic ribosomes. Which of the following best predicts the most direct effect of exposing prokaryotic cells to streptomycin?

Synthesis of polypeptides will be inhibited.

A biologist spent many years researching the rate of evolutionary change in the finch populations of a group of islands. It was determined that the average beak size (both length and mass) of finches in a certain population increased dramatically during an intense drought between 1981 and 1987. During the drought, there was a reduction in the number of plants producing thin-walled seeds. Which of the following procedures was most likely followed to determine the change in beak size?

The beak size in a large number of finches was measured every year from 1981 to 1987.

Commercial bananas are grown as a monoculture, with all banana plants cloned from one original banana plant. The commercial strains of bananas are seedless, so each new banana plant has to be manually planted from a cutting of an existing banana root. In the 1950s, the Gros Michel banana strain, the dominant export banana at that time, was destroyed by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. A new Fusarium resistant variety, the Cavendish banana, was developed and is currently the banana strain grown for export. Recently, a Fusarium strain that successfully attacks the Cavendish strain has been documented. Which of the following best provides reasoning supporting a method that would help protect commercial banana crops from infection by pathogenic organisms such as Fusarium fungi?

The commercial banana strains should not be grown in monocultures, since many pathogenic organisms are able to evolve rapidly in response to a single selective pressure.

The figure shows a phylogenetic tree of various members of the order Proboscidea, which includes modern elephants. Which of the following claims is best supported by the information in the figure ?

The common ancestor of the African elephant and the mastodon is the Palaeomastodon.

Many species of corals are threatened by the increasing temperatures and decreasing pH of ocean waters. One species, Stylophora pistillata, has been found to thrive in water that is warmer and has a lower pH than the water that corals typically thrive in. Additionally, researchers have found that the tolerance for the new water conditions is heritable. Which of the following statements best explains the changes seen in S. pistillata in response to the changing water conditions?

The corals' adaptation is an example of natural selection because the tolerance is in response to a changing environment and has a genetic basis.

Some scientists claim that amphibians are currently experiencing a period of mass extinction. Which of the following should be included in an alternative hypothesis that would best support this claim?

The current extinction rate of amphibians compared with the background rate of extinction as determined by the fossil record

Female European corn borer moths (Ostrinia nubilalis) produce the sex pheromone 11− tetradecenyl acetate ( 11−TDA ), which attracts males of their species. 11−TDA can be produced in two forms, E and Z , each with a different three-dimensional shape. Researchers have discovered two different strains of the European corn borer moth living in the same area. Females of the E strain produce primarily the E form of 11−TDA and females of the Z strain produce primarily the Z form of 11−TDA . Males of both strains are more attracted to the form of 11−TDA produced by the females of the same strain. Which of the following best predicts a long-term effect of the differences between the E and Z strains?

The difference between the forms of the sex pheromone 11−TDA produced by E and Z strains will act as a reproductive barrier leading to speciation.

Freshwater bony fish secrete large volumes of very dilute urine. Many marine bony fish secrete small volumes of concentrated urine. Which of the following best explains the differences in nitrogenous-waste excretion between freshwater and marine bony fish?

The differences arose during divergence, as fish from a common ancestor faced different selective pressures in environments of different osmolarity.

The figure below represents part of a process that occurs in eukaryotic cells. There are untranslated regions ( UTR ) in this sequence. Which of the following best explains the process represented by the figure?

The enzyme-regulated processing of pre‑ mRNA into mature mRNA.

In an experiment, 100 mice were released into a field to which no other mice had access. Immediately after their release, a representative sample of mice was captured, their fur color was recorded, and they were returned to the field. After twenty years, a representative sample of mice was captured and the distribution of fur color was again recorded. Which of the following could best explain the change in fur color distribution, as shown in the table above?

The field was primarily composed of light-colored soil and little vegetation, affording gray mice protection from predators.

In eastern gray squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, the allele for black fur (B) is dominant to the allele for gray fur (b) . In a particular population of gray squirrels, 64% have black fur and 36% have gray fur. A researcher calculated the allelic frequencies to be B=0.4 and b=0.6 . Five years later, the researcher returned to the location and determined the allelic frequencies within the squirrel population to be B=0.6 and b=0.4 . Which of the following could best explain the increase in the frequency of the B allele in the population after five years?

The frequency of the B allele increased due to the selective pressures of the environment.

Antibiotics can be used to kill the specific pathogenic bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, that causes tuberculosis. The appearance of antibiotic-resistant strains has made it more difficult to cure M. tuberculosis infections. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria survive and pass on the genes to their offspring, making the resistant phenotype more common in the population. DNA analysis indicates that the genes for antibiotic resistance are not normally present in bacterial chromosomal DNA. Which of the following statements best explains how the genes for antibiotic resistance can be transmitted between bacteria without the exchange of bacterial chromosomal DNA ?

The genes for antibiotic resistance are located on a plasmid that can be passed to neighboring bacteria.

The amino acid sequence of cytochrome c is exactly the same in humans and chimpanzees. There is a difference of 13 amino acids between the cytochrome c of humans and dogs, and a difference of 20 amino acids between the cytochrome c of humans and rattlesnakes. Which of the following statements is best supported by these data?

The human is apparently more closely related to the chimpanzee than to the dog or rattlesnake.

Diabetes is a disease which is characterized by the inability to break down carbohydrates (sugars). Often a person with diabetes has a defective DNA sequence that codes for the synthesis of the insulin protein. Suppose a person has a mutation in their DNA so that the first triplet in the insulin gene is TAA. The normal DNA sequence is TAG. Will the person be diabetic?

The person will NOT be diabetic since the mutation does not change the animo acid in the insulin protein

Which of the following pieces of evidence best supports the hypothesis that birds and crocodilians (crocodiles and alligators) are more closely related to each other than they are to other organisms?

The skulls of birds and crocodilians have an opening that is absent in the skulls of other reptiles.

The INK4a gene encodes 3 different proteins, p14, p15 and p16. Each of these proteins are important cell cycle regulators which block the cyclin dependent kinases, and prevent the cell from progressing from G1 to S phase. You find a tumor cell line that does not express p14, p15 or p16. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this observation?

The tumor cells have a mutation in the INK4a promoter that significantly decreases the binding of transcription factors.

Molecular biologists are studying the processes of transcription and translation and have found that they are very similar in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, as summarized in the figure below. Based on the information in the figure, which of the following best predicts a key difference in prokaryotes and eukaryotes with regard to transcription and translation?

The two processes will occur simultaneously in prokaryotes but not eukaryotes.

In humans, one allele of the APOE gene, called APOE-ε2 , can result in a tolerance of high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a vital substance for humans but may lead to heart disease in an older adults (60 and older) with a history of high cholesterol diets. High cholesterol diets are becoming more prevalent in the United States. Currently only about 2% of humans carry the APOE-ε2 allele. Which of the following states a valid NULL hypothesis about the future distribution of APOE alleles in future generations in the United States?

The variant protects an individual from a condition that is only common among humans beyond reproductive age, so the frequency of the allele will likely not change much in the future because it is not influenced by natural selection.

Arsenic is a toxic element found in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Scientists have found genes that allow bacteria to remove arsenic from their cytoplasm. Arsenic enters cells as arsenate that must be converted to arsenite to leave cells. Figure 1 provides a summary of the arsenic resistance genes found in the operons of three different bacteria. E. coli R773 is found in environments with low arsenic levels. Herminiimonas arsenicoxydans and Ochrobactrum tritici are both found in arsenic‑rich environments. Researchers claim that bacteria that live in environments heavily contaminated with arsenic are more efficient at processing arsenic into arsenite and removing this toxin from their cells. Justify this claim based on the evidence shown in Figure 1.

There are multiple operons controlling the production of proteins that process and remove arsenite from cells in both H. arsenicoxydans and O. tritici. In contrast, E. coli has only one operon devoted to arsenic removal.

Which of the following observations would provide the strongest evidence that two plants belong to different biological species?

They produce viable but sterile offspring.

A triplet of bases in the template strand of DNA is 5' AGT 3'. The corresponding codon on the mRNA would be:

UCA

Which of the following types of mutation, resulting in an error in the mRNA just after the AUG start of translation, is likely to have the most serious effect on the polypeptide product?

a deletion of two nucleotides

Over many years of a breeding program, a zoo has an established population of foxes that is well adapted for living in captivity. A representative sample of wild foxes from the neighboring forest was used to start the zoo population. A study was conducted to compare the behavior of the zoo fox population with the wild fox population in the neighboring forest. The behaviors of equal numbers of foxes from each population were assessed. Each fox's behavior was scored on a continuum from docile to aggressive based on its interaction with a trained behaviorist. The data is shown in Figure 1. The phenotypic variation in behavior between the two populations can best be described as resulting from

artificial selection

Alternative RNA splicing__________

can allow the production of protein isoforms from a single gene

In plants, members of the euphorbia family and the cactus family have separate origins, with the euphorbia evolving in the desert regions of Asia and Africa and the cacti in the desert regions of the Americas. Both have fleshy stems adapted for water storage, protective spines, and leaves that are greatly reduced or absent. The similarities between these two families of plants represent an example of

convergent evolution

In a small group of people living in a remote area, there is a high incidence of "blue skin", a condition that results from a variation in the structure of hemoglobin. All of the "blue-skinned" residents can trace their ancestry to one couple, who were among the original settlers of this region. The unusually high frequency of "blue skin" in the area is an example of

genetic drift

In Darwinian terms, the fittest individuals of a species are those that

leave the greatest number of reproducing descendants

Once researchers identified DNA as the molecule of inheritance, they asked how information was transferred from the DNA in the nucleus to the site of protein synthesis in the cytoplasm. What is the mechanism of information transfer in eukaryotes?

mRNA is transcribed from a single gene and transfers information from the DNA in the nucleus to the cytoplasm, where protein synthesis takes place.

Sickle-cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder in which one of the hemoglobin subunits is replaced with a different form of hemoglobin. In someone with sickle cell disease the mRNA sequence at a particular codon is GAG, which results in the amino acid Glu. A person with sickle cells has an mRNA codon GUG in this position which results in the amino acid Val. What type of mutation leads to sickle-cell anemia?

substitution