GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology : Molecular Biology and Genetics

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology

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All GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology Resources

1 Diagnostic Test 201 Practice Tests Question of the Day Flashcards Learn by Concept

Example Questions

Example Question #5 : Help With Transposable And Repeated Elements

How do transposons rapidly propogate through and between species?

Possible Answers:

Horizontal transfer

None of these are correct

Transposons cannot move between species

Bacterial infections

Vertical transfer

Correct answer:

Horizontal transfer

Explanation:

It is hypothesized that transposons can rapidly move through populations and species by horizontal transfer, most likely through viruses.

Example Question #71 : Molecular Biology And Genetics

Barbara McClintock initially discovered transposons in her work on corn at Cold Spring Harbor Lab, which she called the Ac / Ds system. What were dissociators (Ds)?

Possible Answers:

A transposon that suppresses another transposon

Defective transposons that served as sites of chromosome breakage

None of these are correct

Genes that are interrupted by a transposon

Transposons that are mobile and insert all over the genome

Correct answer:

Defective transposons that served as sites of chromosome breakage

Explanation:

Barbara McClintock named the transposons that are defective, and serve as sites of chromosomal breakage where other transposons insert (the associator, Ac) the dissociators. These were likely transposons that lacked the transposase that catalyzes their movement.

Example Question #1 : Help With Transposable And Repeated Elements

Transposable elements can be significant factors in causing newly resistant bacterial strains. How do transposons cause resistance to develop?

Possible Answers:

Transposons change gene expression levels

Transposons are not actually involved in creating resistance

An individual transposon incorporates into the genome and is adapted

A transposon modifies a bacterial resistance plasmid

A composite of two transposons and a gene insert into the bacterial genome

Correct answer:

A composite of two transposons and a gene insert into the bacterial genome

Explanation:

Two transposons flanking an antibiotic resistance gene can easily move between bacteria and confer new resistance. A mix of transposons and new genes such as this is called a composite transposon. Recall that bacteria exchange genetic information via conjugation, transduction, and transformation.

Example Question #73 : Molecular Biology And Genetics

What makes an LTR retrotransposon unique among other transposons?

Possible Answers:

LTR retrotransposons are not present in eukaryotes like humans

The LTR regions allows insertion of the transposon anywhere in the genome, versus other restricted transposons

None of these are correct

The transposon is bound by repeats that contain a series of proteins

LTR retrotransposons are derived from short RNAs

Correct answer:

The transposon is bound by repeats that contain a series of proteins

Explanation:

LTR stands for Long Terminal Repeats, which are 250-500 base pair repeats located on the ends of a transposon. These repeats encode a series of proteins, most significantly transposase. These are very likely to be early evolutionarily stages of retroviruses.

Example Question #74 : Molecular Biology And Genetics

How do non-LTR retrotransposons insert into the genome?

Possible Answers:

The ends of the transposon mimic ribosomal RNA gene sequences

The transposon carries an RNA polymerase promoter

None of these are correct

Host DNA repair functions are tricked into integrating the transposon

The transposon uses the standard transposase insertion method

Correct answer:

Host DNA repair functions are tricked into integrating the transposon

Explanation:

Non-LTR retrotransposons use an endonuclease that nicks thymine-rich host DNA, which eventually leads to incorporation of the transposon by host DNA repair functions. These other methods are all associated with different specializations of transposon.

Example Question #1 : Help With Genome Evolution

Why are rRNA genes more useful in molecular typing than other genes? 

Possible Answers:

rRNA genes are only in eukaryotes

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes have both highly conserved and variable regions

rRNA genes are only in bacteria and archaea

None of these

There are multiple rRNA genes in each organism

Correct answer:

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes have both highly conserved and variable regions

Explanation:

The correct answer is that rRNA genes have both highly conserved and highly variable regions. Molecular typing is the process of identifying species from a microbiome by analysis of common molecules or genes. All organisms including eukaryotes, prokaryotes, and archaea, (but not viruses) have multiple rRNA genes. Given that rRNA genes have highly conserved regions, it allows researchers to identify transcripts/genes as rRNA genes in unknown species. Comparing the sequences of the variable regions of the rRNA genes allows researchers to identify the species of the organism from which it is derived. 

Example Question #2 : Help With Genome Evolution

What is orthology in the context of genome comparisons?

Possible Answers:

None of these

A homologous DNA sequence that was derived from a gene duplication event

A gene that has the same DNA sequence as that in another species

A homologous DNA sequence that was derived from the same ancestral sequence

A gene that has the same function as another gene sequence

Correct answer:

A homologous DNA sequence that was derived from the same ancestral sequence

Explanation:

An orthologous gene is one that is descended from a common ancestral sequence. So, when two sequences from different species are compared, they are orthologs if they have the same evolutionary history. A paralogous gene is the case in which a similar gene sequence is derived from a genome duplication event, and do not have a evolutionary relationship. These genes often develop different functions, unlike orthologs.

Example Question #421 : Gre Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, And Molecular Biology

What is the physiological purpose of a tandem gene array?

Possible Answers:

Encoding of huge numbers of important genes simultaneously

None of these

Many copies of a genes serve to make it less likely that there are mutated copies

Tandem arrays are just an artifact of DNA duplication and replication processes

Tandem arrays are a species specific genome feature used in species specific ways

Correct answer:

Encoding of huge numbers of important genes simultaneously

Explanation:

Tandem arrays are used for extremely important genes, like ribosomal RNA genes that are vital for organism function. The arrays serve to allow massive parallelized encoding of these genes, because many copies are required.

Example Question #3 : Help With Genome Evolution

Why are rRNA genes and internal transcribed spacers (ITS) frequently used for organismal identification and evolutionary comparisons between organisms?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

Only bacteria have ITS and only eukaryotes have rRNA genes

rRNA genes and ITS are highly conserved among all species

rRNA genes and ITS are highly divergent among all species

rRNA genes and ITS have highly conserved regions and highly divergent regions

Correct answer:

rRNA genes and ITS have highly conserved regions and highly divergent regions

Explanation:

The correct answer is rRNA genes and ITS have highly conserved regions and highly divergent regions. Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes have rRNA genes and ITS, making these ideal targets for molecular typing. In order to amplify, then sequence these regions for evolutionary comparisons, universal primers are designed to anneal within the highly conserved regions and amplify through the highly divergent regions. The divergent regions of rRNA genes and ITS allow for specie to specie comparison and identification. 

Example Question #5 : Help With Genome Evolution

Genome projects on Drosophila and Anopheles have identified approximately 6,000 1:1 orthologs ranging from 100% to 20% identity. Why were no orthologs at a lower identity identified?

Possible Answers:

None of these are correct

It is almost impossible to align these sequences

These insects are too closely related to identify them

No orthologs would exist below this threshold

There are many orthologs present at other ratios clouding the data

Correct answer:

It is almost impossible to align these sequences

Explanation:

When two sequences have less than 20% identity, it is almost impossible to align them and identify that they are actually orthologs. This is especially the case in huge genome data sets, in which it is impossible to find matching sequences by hand.

All GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology Resources

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