All Biochemistry Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #21 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
Which of the following nucleotides are purines?
Cytosine and thymine
Thymine and guanine
Adenine and guanine
Cytosine and adenine
Adenine and cytosine
Adenine and guanine
Adenine and guanine are purines, while cytosine and thymine are pyrimidines. A helpful mnemonic for this is Pure (purine) As (adenine) Gold (guanine). Note that uracil is a pyrimidine, but is only seen in RNA.
Example Question #22 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
In the eukaryotic ribosome, the sedimentation coefficient for the small subunit is __________ and large subunit is __________.
60S . . . 80S
40S . . . 60S
35S . . . 70S
20S . . . 60S
40S . . . 70S
40S . . . 60S
The 80S eukaryotic ribosome is made up of 40S and 60S subunits.
Example Question #23 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
In the prokaryotic ribosome, the sedimentation coefficient for the small subunit is __________ and large subunit is __________.
40S . . . 60S
20S . . . 40S
20S . . . 60S
30S . . . 40S
30S . . . 50S
30S . . . 50S
The 70S prokaryotic ribosome is made up of 30S and 50S subunits.
Example Question #355 : Biochemistry
Which prokaryotic translation initiation factor (IF) forms a ternary complex with mRNA, fMet-tRNA, and GTP?
IF-4
IF-3
IF-2
IF-1
IF-5
IF-2
IF-3 binds to the 30S subunit first. Then IF-2 forms the ternary complex, and it binds with IF-1 to the 30S subunit. Upon release of IF-1 and IF-3, the 50S subunit will bind to prepare for translation.
Example Question #24 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
Which of the following is not considered to be a pyrimidine derivative?
Guanine and adenine
Thymine and adenine
Uracil
Cytosine
Thymine
Guanine and adenine
The nitrogenous bases that are considered to be pyrimidine derivatives are thymine, cytosine, and uracil. Thus, the purines are adenine and guanine. The mnemonic Pure As Gold (Purines = Adenine and Guanine) can be used to remember which bases are purines.
Example Question #25 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
Which of the following components might be found in a nucleoside molecule?
I. Phosphate group
II. Pentose
III. Uracil
II only
II and III
I and II
I only
II and III
Nucleotides are monomers of nucleic acids and are made up of three molecules: nitrogenous base (uracil, thymine, cytosine, adenine or guanine), pentose sugar (deoxyribose for DNA and ribose for RNA) and phosphate group. Nucleosides, on the other hand, are molecules that only contain nitrogenous base and pentose sugar; they do not contain phosphate groups.
Example Question #26 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
A researcher is analyzing two nucleic acids. He observes that the molecular weight of molecule A is three times as much as molecule B. Based on the given information, which of the following can you conclude?
Molecule A has more adenine and guanine
Cannot conclude any of these based on the given information
Molecule A has uracil while molecule B doesn’t
Molecule B has more adenine and guanine
Cannot conclude any of these based on the given information
The question states that molecule A is heavier than molecule B. This could result from several reasons. First, molecule A could be a double stranded DNA and molecule B could be a single stranded RNA. This will allow the DNA molecule to be a lot heavier than its RNA counterpart. Second, molecule A could contain more purines (adenine and guanine) than molecule B). Recall that purines are two membered rings whereas pyrimidines (uracil, cytosine and thymine) are one membered rings. This means purines have more atoms and, therefore, have a higher molecular weight.
We are not given enough information to determine the identity or the distribution of nitrogenous bases in molecule A and B; therefore, we cannot conclude any of the given statements.
Example Question #91 : Identification By Structure
Compared to an RNA molecule, a DNA molecule has __________ thymine molecules and __________ deoxygenated sugars.
more . . . fewer
more . . . more
fewer . . . more
fewer . . . fewer
more . . . more
DNA and RNA molecules contain four types of nitrogenous bases. Guanine, cytosine and adenine are found in both whereas thymine is only found in DNA and uracil is only found in RNA. This means that DNA molecules will have more Thymine bases than RNA molecules. Another difference between DNA and RNA molecule is the type of pentose sugar. RNA contains ribose sugar whereas DNA contains deoxyribose. Deoxyribose contains one less hydroxyl group than ribose; therefore, DNA molecules have more deoxygenated sugars than RNA.
Example Question #27 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
Which of the following are pyrimidines?
Cytosine (C), uracil (U), and thymine (T)
Adenine (A) and guanine (G)
Adenine (A), guanine (G), and uracil (U)
Cytosine (C) and uracil (U)
Cytosine (C), uracil (U), and thymine (T)
Think of it as this. CUT the PY (pie) PYrimidines. PURe As Gold. PURines. A will pair with T (and U in RNA). G will pair with C. The deamination of cytosine makes uracil, which is in RNA.
Example Question #28 : Identifying Specific Nucleic Acid Structures
All of the following amino acids are chiral except __________.
proline
cysteine
threonine
glycine
alanine
glycine
In a biochemistry course, we often rely on important information that was learned during general and organic chemistry. One important concept to remember is chirality. A molecule is chiral if it is not superimposable on its mirror image. These molecules lack a plane of symmetry.
It is a common mistake for students to think that all amino acids are chiral. While most amino acids are chiral, glycine is in fact achiral. Remember, the side chain on glycine is simply a hydrogen. The central carbon therefore is connected to two hydrogens, and is not a stereocenter.
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