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Example Questions
Example Question #21 : Nucleic Acid Structures
The primosome remains that are associated with the lagging strand in DNA replication are known as which of the following?
Primase fragments
DNA polymerase III
DNA polymerase I
Okazaki fragments
DNA ligase
Okazaki fragments
Okazaki fragments are found in the lagging strand, and are linked by DNA ligase. These short fragments of DNA are formed because DNA polymerase III (the main polymerizing enzyme complex) can only add nucleotides the the 3' end of a DNA strand. Since DNA strands are antiparallel, this is unavoidable.
Example Question #21 : Nucleic Acid Structures
Meselson and Stahl described DNA replication as __________.
dependent
semiconservative
conservative
dispersive
independent
semiconservative
The semiconservative model of DNA replication describes the daughter strand containing one new and one old strand. Dispersive and conservative models were both rejected from their experiment. Independet and dependent do not pertain to any of the scientist's theories of replication.
Example Question #22 : Nucleic Acid Structures
Which of the the following DNA motifs is held together by hydrophobic interactions along the length of an amino acid side chain, to form a coiled-coil?
Two-stranded beta sheet
Helix-turn-helix
Helix-loop-helix
Zinc finger
Leucine zipper
Leucine zipper
The helix-turn-helix motif has two helices at a particular angle, with one of them, the recognition helix, fitting into a major groove. Zinc fingers have sheets and helices held together via zinc complexes. Beta sheets have hydrogen bonds along their strand backbones. The helix-loop-helix motif has one helix folded and packed against another. In the leucine zipper, two helices are coiled up to where they are "unzipped" to form a Y.
Example Question #23 : Nucleic Acid Structures
The backbone of a strand of DNA is comprised of which of these?
Sugars and nucleotides
Sugars only
Sugars and phosphates
Nucleotides only
Nucleotides and phosphates
Sugars and phosphates
The backbone of DNA is made up of alternating phosphate groups and sugar groups, linked together via phosphodiester bonds. The nitrogenous bases jut off of the backbone and form bonds with nitrogenous bases on other strands of DNA to become double stranded. A nucleotide consists of a sugar, nitrogenous base, and one or more phosphate groups.
Example Question #24 : Nucleic Acid Structures
What is the anticodon?
The region of DNA that recognizes mRNA
The region of a tRNA that recognizes mRNA
The region of mRNA that recognizes DNA
The region of tRNA that recognizes DNA
The region of mRNA that recognizes tRNA
The region of a tRNA that recognizes mRNA
The anticodon is a part of tRNA that is capable of finding its complementary codon on mRNA. This allows the tRNA to carry its specific amino acid to a ribosome when necessary in the production of proteins.
Example Question #15 : Dna And Rna
What types of bonds hold together a tRNA molecule?
Disulfide bonds
Ionic bonds
Hydrogen bonds
Covalent bonds
The tRNA molecule is not held together by bonds
Hydrogen bonds
The clover-like structure of tRNA is held together by hydrogen bonds between nitrogenous bases of the molecule. Without them, this tertiary structure would not be possible.
Example Question #25 : Nucleic Acid Structures
In RNA, which base pairs with adenine?
Cytosine
Guanine
Uracil
Adenine
Thymine
Uracil
In RNA the four bases are: adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine. The bases in DNA are similar, except uracil is replaced with thymine. In RNA, adenine will always pair with uracil, and guanine will always pair with cytosine. Remember, a purine (adenine, guanine) will always pair with a pyrimidine (cytosine, uracil or thymine).
Example Question #16 : Dna And Rna
Suppose that a portion of the coding strand in a given gene reads as follows:
What would the mRNA encoded by this gene read?
This question presents us with a portion of the coding strand of a gene, and asks us to determine the corresponding sequence of nucleotides in the mRNA that would be transcribed from this gene.
To begin, it is very important to recognize that the sequence given to us in the question stem is the coding strand. This is to distinguish it from the template strand.
For any given gene, there is a template strand and a coding strand. These two strands are complementary to one another and run in opposite directions. The template strand is the one that is transcribed to give rise to a complementary mRNA molecule that will go on to be translated into a polypeptide. Hence, it is called the template strand because it provides the template for the production of mRNA, and subsequently a protein.
The coding strand, on the other hand, is not transcribed. Instead, the coding strand gets its name because its sequence is identical to the sequence of the pre-mRNA (before introns are removed). The exception to this is that the coding strand contains thymine nucleotides, whereas the pre-mRNA contains uracil in place of thymine. The reason why these two have the same sequence is because both of them are complementary to the template strand. Sometimes, the template strand is also referred to as the antisense strand, while the coding strand is referred to as the sense strand.
It is important to realize this distinction because, without it, one might arrive at the incorrect answer. Because this is the coding strand (sense strand), the mRNA product will have an identical sequence, with the exception of uracil in place of thymine.
Coding strand:
mRNA strand:
Example Question #26 : Nucleic Acid Structures
The role of small nuclear RNA (snRNA) is to __________.
bind to complementary mRNA molecules to inhibit translation
function as the template for protein synthesis
carry amino acids to the ribosome for translation
bind to mRNA to facilitate its degradation
participate in the splicing of RNA exons
participate in the splicing of RNA exons
The function of snRNA is to participate in the splicing of RNA exons. Micro RNA binds to complementary mRNA to inhibit translation. Small interfering RNA binds to mRNA to facilitate its degradation. mRNA functions as a template for protein synthesis. Transfer RNA (tRNA) carries amino acids to the ribosome during translation.
Example Question #27 : Nucleic Acid Structures
What is the role of microRNA?
Participates in the splicing of RNA exons
Carries amino acids to the ribosome during translation
Binds to complementary mRNA strand to inhibit translation
Functions as a template for protein synthesis
Binds to mRNA to facilitate its degradation
Binds to complementary mRNA strand to inhibit translation
The function of snRNA is to participate in the splicing of RNA exons. Micro RNA binds to complementary mRNA to inhibit translation. Small interfering RNA binds to mRNA to facilitate its degradation. mRNA functions as a template for protein synthesis. Transfer RNA (tRNA) carries amino acids to the ribosome during translation.
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