GRE Subject Test: Biology : GRE Subject Test: Biology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Biology

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Example Questions

Example Question #381 : Gre Subject Test: Biology

Sickle cell anemia is a disorder caused by the alteration of one amino acid in hemoglobin. Based on this, what kind of mutation causes sickle cell anemia? 

Possible Answers:

Missense mutation

Frameshift mutation

Silent mutation

Nonsense mutation

Correct answer:

Missense mutation

Explanation:

When only one amino acid is changed in a polypeptide, it is commonly caused by a point mutation, where one base pair has been changed. Silent, missense, and nonsense mutations can all be caused by a point mutation. Since the amino acid sequence has been changed, this is an example of a missense mutation. A silent mutation would not change the amino acid sequence, and a nonsense mutation would result in a premature stop codon during translation.

Example Question #2 : Evolution And Mutations

What term best describes when one species exhibits two or more defined phenotypes within the same population?

Possible Answers:

Allopatry 

Assortative mating

Sympatry 

Natural selection

Polymorphism

Correct answer:

Polymorphism

Explanation:

The correct answer is polymorphism. A polymorphism refers to multiple phenoytpes (morphs) that exist within a population, generally as a result of multiple alleles for the same gene.

Sympatry and allopatry refer to mechanisms of speciation and natural selection favors a certain phenotype for its fitness or other survival advantages. Assortative mating describes a biased mating pattern based on either phenotype or behavior. 

Example Question #5 : Mutations And Variability

Which of the following is most accurate about single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)?

Possible Answers:

SNPs occur in 1% or more of the population 

SNPs occur in only non-coding regions

None of these

SNPs occur in only coding regions

SNPs are more frequently found in AT-rich microsatellite regions

Correct answer:

SNPs occur in 1% or more of the population 

Explanation:

In order for a nucleotide substitution to be considered a SNP and not a random mutation, it must occur in 1% or more of the population. SNPs are more frequently found in non-coding regions. Typically, SNPs are much less commonly found in AT-rich microsatellites. 

Example Question #1 : Evolution And Mutations

What is the major difference between synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions?

Possible Answers:

Synonymous substitutions result in missense mutations, non-synonymous substitutions result in nonsense mutations

Non-synonymous substitutions result in missense mutations, synonymous substitutions result in nonsense mutations

Synonymous substitutions do not result in an amino acid change in the protein, but non-synonymous substitutions do

None of these

Non-synonymous substitutions do not result in an amino acid change in the protein, but synonymous substitutions do

Correct answer:

Synonymous substitutions do not result in an amino acid change in the protein, but non-synonymous substitutions do

Explanation:

If single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that occur in coding regions do not trigger an amino acid change in the protein, they are synonymous. A SNP can cause a missense mutation (an amino acid change in the protein) or a nonsense mutation (an amino acid change to a stop codon), both of these are nonsynonymous substitutions.  

Example Question #1 : Understanding Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium

In the Hardy-Weinberg equations, what quantities are represented by the variables  and ?

Possible Answers:

Observed phenotype frequencies

Genotype frequencies

Expected phenotype frequencies

Allele frequencies

Correct answer:

Allele frequencies

Explanation:

The variables  and  are specifically referring to the allele frequencies of the dominant and the recessive allele in a population, respectively.

Expected genotype frequencies can be seen in the equation:

In this equation, represents the expected genotype frequency of homozygous dominant organisms,  represents the expected frequency of heterozygous organisms, and represents the frequency of homozygous recessive organisms. These values are the expected frequencies in the population, based on the Hardy-Weinberg conditions and allele frequencies; they may not be the values actually observed. To get observed genotype and phenotype frequencies, more information about the size and makeup of the population would be needed.

Example Question #2 : Understanding Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium

Which of the following variables would not be observed in a population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Possible Answers:

Females mate with males of the same color to avoid a mixing of colors in the population

The population has a very large number of organisms

No new mutations are appearing in the population

No immigrating organisms are allowed to enter the population

Correct answer:

Females mate with males of the same color to avoid a mixing of colors in the population

Explanation:

Hardy Weinberg equilibrium has requirements that must be met by a population in order to confirm that evolution is not taking place:

1. The population must be large in number.

2. There can be no new mutations entering the population.

3. Immigration and emigration cannot change the allelic frequencies of the population.

4. Mating must be random.

5. Natural selection cannot be taking place.

Since it was said that females are selectively choosing which males they mate with, Hardy Weinberg equilibrium is being violated.

Example Question #3 : Evolution And Mutations

A population at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium has two alleles for fur color: red and black. Assume black is dominant to red fur color. Of the animals in the population, 16 percent of the animals have red fur.

What percentage of the alleles in the population code for black fur?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since we know that the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and that there are only two alleles, we can use the Hardy-Weinberg equation to solve this problem:

Lets say that  represents the black allele, and  represents the red allele. Since we know that red is recessive to black, only animals with two red alleles will be red. Fortunately, the  portion of the equation is the only portion that deals with red animals (the other two variables are black: both homozygous dominant as well as heterozygous). This means that  is equal to the frequency of red animals in the population: 

Since we now know the frequency of the red allele in the population, we simply subtract it from one in order to find the frequency of the black allele, which turns out to be 0.6.

Example Question #1 : Evolutionary Factors

In a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of homozygous dominant individuals is 0.36. What is the percentage of homozygous recessive individuals in the population?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The two equations pertaining to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are:

In this second equation, each term refers to the frequency of a given genotype.  is the homozygous dominant frequency,  is the heterozygous frequency, and  is the homozygous recessive frequency.

From the question, we know that:

We now know the dominant allele frequency. Using the other Hardy-Weinberg equation, we can find the recessive allele frequency:

Returning to our genotype frequency terms, we can use this recessive allele frequency to find the homozygous recessive frequency:

Example Question #1 : Evolutionary Factors

Which is not a necessary condition for the Hardy-Weinberg equation to be true?

Possible Answers:

No natural selection

No mutations in the gene pool

Small population

Random mating

No net migration of individuals into or out of the population

Correct answer:

Small population

Explanation:

For the Hardy-Weinberg equation to be true, the population in question must be very large. This ensures that coincidental occurrences do not drastically alter allelic frequencies.

Example Question #3 : Understanding Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium

A population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The gene of interest has two alleles, with 16% of the population portraying the features of the recessive phenotype. What percentage of the population is heterozygous?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Using the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equations, you can determine the answer.

The value of  gives us the frequency of the dominant allele, while the value of  gives us the frequency of the recessive allele. The second equation corresponds to genotypes.  is the homozygous dominant frequency,  is the heterozygous frequency, and  is the homozygous recessive frequency.

16% of the population shows the recessive phenotype, and therefore must carry the homozygous recessive genotype. We can use this information to solve for the recessive allele frequency.

We can use the value of  and the first Hardy-Weinberg equation to solve for .

Knowing both  and , you can use the second equation to find the percent of heterozygous organisms in the population.

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