High School Biology : High School Biology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Biology

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Example Questions

Example Question #51 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

Which of the following sets of nitrogenous bases are classified as purines? 

Possible Answers:

Thymine and guanine

Adenine and cytosine

Cytosine and thymine

Adenine and guanine

Correct answer:

Adenine and guanine

Explanation:

Adenine and guanine are the purines that bond to the pyrimidines. Cytosine and thymine are the pyrimidines. The purines consist of two carbon rings, and the pyrimidines consist of one carbon ring.

Example Question #52 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

Which of the following is not a nucleotide found in DNA?

Possible Answers:

Cytosine

Uracil 

Adenine

Guanine

Correct answer:

Uracil 

Explanation:

DNA is the hereditary material found in virtually all organisms; however, some viruses use RNA. DNA consists of several components. It has a phosphate-sugar (deoxyribose) backbone and is composed of two strands made from purine-pyrimidine hydrogen bonds in a double helix confirmation. The purines associated with DNA include adenine and guanine and the pyrimidines include cytosine and thymine. Adenine bonds with thymine and cytosine bonds with guanine. 

Example Question #61 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

What role do hydrogen bonds play in the structure of DNA?

Possible Answers:

Creates a bond between the deoxyribose and phosphate group

Are an integral part of the sugar-phosphate backbone 

Holds each of the base pairs together

Bonds the hydrogen atoms to the nitrogenous bases

Bonds the nitrogenous base to the phosphate group

Correct answer:

Holds each of the base pairs together

Explanation:

Each base pair (adenine - thymine and cytosine - guanine) are held together with hydrogen bonds. These bases form the 'ladder steps' part of a DNA molecule. Hydrogen bonds are much weaker than the covalent bonds that hold all the other parts of the molecule together, so when DNA needs to be replicated, its easy for an enzyme to 'unzip' the DNA molecule and expose those bases for replication.

Example Question #62 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

Which of the base pairs below form the strongest bond?

Possible Answers:

Guanine - cytosine

Adenine - thymine

Cytosine - thymine

Adenine - guanine

Thymine - guanine

Correct answer:

Guanine - cytosine

Explanation:

Guanine - cytosine and adenine - thymine form "complimentary base pairs." Guanine can only form hydrogen bonds with cytosine and adenine can only form hydrogen bonds with thymine (and vice versa). With that in mind, any base pairing other than those two can be excluded from this answer. Furthermore, cytosine and guanine form a total of three hydrogen bonds together while adenine and thymine only form two. The extra bond between guanine and cytosine makes the pairing about 50% stronger.

Example Question #61 : Dna

Which of the following is true about purines?

Possible Answers:

Are generally smaller then pyrimidines

Forms the backbones structure of DNA

Pair well with other purines in DNA

Contains a double ringed structure which is larger than pyrimidines

Thymine and cytosine are purines

Correct answer:

Contains a double ringed structure which is larger than pyrimidines

Explanation:

Purines are one of the two families of nitrogenous bases, the other being pyrimidines. Purines consist of a double ring structure, while pyrimidines contain only a single ring making them smaller than purines. Adenine and guanine are purines, while their complimentary base pairs (thymine and cytosine) are pyrimidines. If two purines were to pair together, there would be an unstable bulge in the DNA due to a purine-purine pair being slightly larger than purine-pyrimidine complimentary base pairs. If two pyrimidines were to create a pair, there would be a slight pinch in the DNA for the same reasons. The backbone of DNA consists of deoxyribose and phosphate, not the nitrogenous bases. 

Example Question #64 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

Select the proper components of a nucleotide in DNA.

Possible Answers:

A nitrogenous base and a hexose sugar 

A nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and a protein 

A nitrogenous base, a hexose sugar, and a phosphate

A nitrogenous base, a protein, and a phosphate

A nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate 

Correct answer:

A nitrogenous base, a pentose sugar, and a phosphate 

Explanation:

For DNA: A nucleotide contains a nitrogenous base (adenine, thymine, cytosine, or guanine), a pentose (five-carbon) sugar (in this case, deoxyribose), and a phosphate group. A nucleoside is simply a nitrogenous base and a sugar. You could also say that a nucleotide is a nucleoside with an attached phosphate group. 

Example Question #65 : Dna, Rna, And Proteins

Consider a DNA molecule in which 23% of the molecule is adenine. Given that information, what is the expected amount of guanine? 

Possible Answers:

27% 

46%

54%

23%

There is not enough information given to determine. 

Correct answer:

27% 

Explanation:

We will assume this is the "perfect" DNA molecule and there are no anomalies or mutations.

That being said, we know that the amount of adenine (A) is equal to the amount of thymine (T), and the amount of guanine (G) is equal to the amount of cytosine (C) due to the complementarity of DNA; A=T and C=G. We are dealing with percentages, so the total amount of each 4 nucleotides will equal 100.

The amount for adenine is given; A = 23%. Because A=T, the amount of thymine must be 23% as well. Add these two values together to get the total amount of A and T : 23 + 23= 46. 

Again, since we are dealing with percents, we subtract the total amount of A and T from 100: 100 - 46 = 54. Now we know the total amount of C and G is 54. Since the amount of C=G, we can divide 54 by 2 = 27.

The amount of Cytosine in the molecule is 27%, and the amount of Guanine is 27%.

Example Question #64 : Dna

Which of the following choices have only purines?

Possible Answers:

Cytosine and Guanine

Thymine and Cytosine

Adenine and Thymine

Guanine and Thymine

Adenine and Guanine

Correct answer:

Adenine and Guanine

Explanation:

Adenine and Guanine are purines, therefore that answer choice is correct. Thymine and Cytosine are pyrimidines, therefore any answer that involves those choices are incorrect.

Example Question #401 : High School Biology

Which of the following nucleotides is found in RNA but not DNA?

Possible Answers:

Cytosine

Adenine

Uracil

Guanine

Thymine

Correct answer:

Uracil

Explanation:

RNA and DNA both have the bases cytosine, guanine and adenine in common. In RNA, uracil is present in place of thymine which is found in DNA. 

Example Question #41 : Dna Structure

Which of the following are correct base pair combinations for the DNA structure?

Possible Answers:

Adenine paired with Thymine

Cytosol paired with Guanine

Cytosine paired with Adenosine

Guanine paired with Thymine

Adenine paired with Uracil

Correct answer:

Adenine paired with Thymine

Explanation:

There are two types of nucleotides in DNA, pyrimidines and purines. The purines are Adenine and Guanine. Pyrimidines are Thymine and Cytosine. In RNA, Thymine is replaced with Uracil. Purines pair with pyrimidines in a specific order, therefore Adenine pairs with Thymine, and Cytosine pairs with Guanine. Adenine pairs with Uracil only in RNA, not DNA.

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