BI 171 - Second Exam - 1999

ANSWER KEY


Multiple Choice.

Place the letter of the choice that best answers the question on the line to the left. Two Points Each. NOTE: "e" answers are never the correct answer.

___C___ 1. A sugar, a nitrogenous base, and a phosphate are the components of a(n)
                        a. Antibody             b. Enzyme             c. Nucleotide            d. Cytosol 
                                                            e. Festive autumn drink

                            ...just right out of the notes / book.


___D___ 2. In multicellular organisms, cell walls tend to limit
                        a. Metabolic rate             b. Cell size             c. Enzyme activity
                        d. Mobility                                 e. Meal choices

                            ...since they stick cells together in a fairly inflexible manner...


___B___ 3. Temperature is a measurement of what at the atomic level?
                        a. Activation energy             b. Kinetic energy             c. Bonding energy
                        d. Optimal energy                 e. Whether the atoms can call in sick

                            ...it's the definition.

___B___ 4. Which cells would have the most rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi
                                 apparatus?
   
                     a. Cells that produce and store lipid
                        b. Glandular cells that produce and secrete a protein hormone
                        c. Liver cells that detoxify drugs
                        d. Complex bacterial cells
                        e. Cells with the most available discretionary cash

                            ...the RER is linked to production and the Golgi to export / secretion.

___A___5. Thykaloid membranes would be found in the cells of a
                        a. Lettuce             b. Bacterium             c. Dog            d. Fungus 
                                                        e. Thykaloid

                            ...they're part of plant cells' chloroplasts.

___C___6. An antibody's ability to bind only to a particular antigen is an example of
                        a. Homology             b. Analogy             c. Stereospecificity
                        d. Affinity                     e. Really anal-neurotic molecules

                            ...which makes it very specific.  Affinity has to do with binding
                                strength but not specificity.

___A___7. Proteins are constructed in living things starting with the
                        a. N- terminus                     b. Middle
                        c. C- terminus                     d. Subsidiary chains
                                    e. Proper notarized bids

                            ...if you remember amino terminus and carboxyl, it's alphabetical

___C___8. Chaperonins are involved in
                        a. Enzyme regulation                    b. Gene expression
                        c. Protein folding                         d. Rate equilibrium
                                            e. Molecule proms

                            ...again, pretty much a definition.


___D___9. Cooperative effect works on which structure level?
                        a. Primary             b. Secondary             c. Tertiary
                        d. Quaternary                 e. Hmmm....this could be useful...

                            ...quaternary is the only level with separate subunits to cooperate

___B___10. Electrophoresis separates peptides out according to
                        a. pH & water content             b. Size & charge             c. Function
                        d. All of the above                             e. Ethnic background

                            ...the charged gel migrates according to charge and the smaller
                                    bits migrate faster if they're charged equally.


___A___11. The designation k is given to the
                        a. Reaction rate             b. Optimal pH            c. The active site 
                        d. The reaction product            e. Whatever they put into the cereal

                            ...you've got to know this for most of chapter 4 to make any sense at all

___A___12. A reaction with an equilibrium constant of more than 1 tends to 
                                move forward;  the Keq is calculated by
                        a. Dividing product concentration by reactant concentration
                        b. Multiplying product concentration by reactant concentration
                        c. Dividing reactant concentration by product concentration
                        d. Multiplying reactant concentration by product concentration
                        e. Asking somebody else to figure it out for you

                            ...if you understand how this works you can figure it out; otherwise
                                you just have to remember it.

___A___13. A nucleolus should have a sizeable amount of
                        a. RNA             b. DNA             c. Glycocalex            d. Membranes 
                                                    e. Free pizza coupons

                            ...since its job mostly involves being an RNA repository and
                                synthesizer, that makes sense...

___D___14. The structure of an amino acid:
   
                     a. The R group, alpha carbon and carboxyl are on the amino group
                        b. The R group, alpha carbon and amino group are on the carboxyl group
                        c. The alpha carbon, amino and carboxyl groups are on the R group
                        d. The amino, carboxyl, and R groups are on the alpha carbon
                        e. There's a bunch of stuff stirred up in a mess

                            ...just remember what the "center" is...

___D___15. The number of substrates that an enzyme molecule can process per second:
                        a. Rate constant                                 b. Optimal constant
                        c. Equilibrium constant                       d. Turnover number   
                e. Depends on whether the enzyme is on straight hourly or piecework payscale

                            ...another definition.

___B___16. A ligand is equivalent to a(n)
                        a. Enzyme             b. Substrate             c. Codon            d. Cofactor 
                                                e. A meth (it's a spelling joke)

                            ...a substrate by another name, for receptors and such...

___A___17. A cell covered with microvilli would most likely be doing which job?
                        a. Absorbing materials             b. Moving through water
                        c. Photosynthesizing                 d. Holding tissues together
                                            e. Making really tiny pasta

                            ...the microvilli increase surface area, so what's a cell need surface
                                for-?  Absorbing or releasing.


___B___18. Proteins that are homologous would certainly be similar in
                        a. Function             b. Amino acid sequence             c. Cofactor usage
                        d. Mutational patterns                 e. Baseball team preferences

                            ...similar to anatomical homologies, built on roughly the same basis

 


Short Answer.  
Pick TEN Questions to answer in the spaces provided.
NOTE: if you answer MORE than ten, only the first ten will be corrected.
Four Points each. Partial credit is possible.


1. What are two facts that support the endosymbiont theory for mitochondria?

            ...there are a few:  mitochondria are structurally similar to aerobic bacteria; they have bacteria-type DNA (or they have at least some of their own DNA);  similar symbioses can be observed in nature.



2. What is a Q10?

            ...the increase in a reaction's rate with a 10-degree Celsius increase in temperature.



3. What are two typical elements of cytoskeleton?

            ...there are three:  microtubules, microfilaments, and intermediate filaments.
Membranes might be an allowable answer but are not usually considered as such.




4. What's the basic difference between a mineral-based prosthetic group and a mineral-based cofactor? Be sure to indicate which is which.

            ...a prosthetic group is included as part of a functioning protein;  a cofactor may be needed for proper function, but it is essentially separate.

5. Name two features of flagella that make them distinctly different from cilia.

            ...they are bigger, almost always found in much smaller numbers on a cell, and may have added substructures (cilia don't).

6. What is (define!) a catalyst?

            ...something that speeds up a reaction (by lowering activation energy, but that's not a required part of this definition) and which itself comes out of the reaction unchanged.  This last part is needed, because reactants could be defined, sort of, with the first part.

7. Define activation energy.

            ...the energy / input needed to get a reaction started.

8. What sorts of bond types can be found holding various proteins together?

            ...mostly Hydrogen, sometimes covalent, rarely ionic.

 

9. Describe two different types of indirect enzyme inhibitions.

            ...indirect has to be something attaching away from the active site.  It could block access of the substrate, or change the shape of the active site.


10. What exactly is a ribozyme?

            ...an enzyme made of RNA (rather than protein).


11. In Nature, what is a limiting factor? Explain it generally rather than giving an example.

            ...it's a single aspect of the system that by itself can affect whether or to what extent the system functions.  A single system could have lots of limiting factors - the one that actually is in smallest supply is the limiting factor in any ecosystem.  (Plants could have water, phosphate, nitrate, iron, or other limiting factors - whatever's hardest to come by will limit plant growth)

12. What are two rules included in the Cell Theory?

            ...there are several:  all living things are made up of at least one cell;  cells are the smallest unit consider living;  cells only come from similar pre-existing cells;  cells are more similar than different;  multicellular function is a product of component cells & their interactions.


13. What is a dynamic equilibrium?

            ...it's an equaling of rate - reactions continue, things change, but rates forward and backward are equal.

14. Briefly explain the typical ionization patterns found in amino acids.

            ...the carboxyl ends tend to lose hydrogen ions and go negative; the amino ends tend to pick hydrogen ions up and go positive.

15. What is the evolutionary importance of genetic redundancy?

            ...you could answer this for either redundancy:  it could reduce the impact of specific mutations, allowing high mutation rates;  it allows genes to mutate and have their original function preserved (by having copies mutate).

16. What exactly happens at the active site of an enzyme?


            ...substrates are bound in such a way to encourage change.

17. What is apoptosis?

            ..."programmed cell death" - a cell dies because its "timer" goes off or because it is signaled to die.

 

Long Answer.  
Select and answer completely any four of the following questions.
Note: if you answer more than four, only the first four will be corrected.
Six Points Each. Partial credit is possible.

1. Pick one of the two commonly-used types of microscopes (light or electron) and give two advantages and two disadvantages it has in comparison to the other.
Type:                      ELECTRON

 

    LIGHT

                       Able to see smaller things;
Advantages
over Other(2):   More common advanced
 research tool;  

   More commonly used for illustrations.
Just reverse the terms around...
                             Expensive.
Disadvantages     Harder to use.
vs Other(2):       Treatment of specimens is more potentially dangerous.
 


2. Name and define three of the structural levels of protein molecules.
PRIMARY Order of amino acids on chain.
SECONDARY

Local binding patterns.

TERTIARY

"Wrapping up" shape in 3 dimensions.

QUATERNARY How multiple subunits interact in single protein.


3. What are three different possible effects that a change in a codon can have on the gene's protein?
None - same amino acid is coded.
None / minimal - similar amino acid is coded or amino acid change is in noncritical part of protein.
Major - protein function is impaired.
Protein function is improved.


4. What are six cellular features, bigger than just molecules, that might be found in both a prokaryote and a eukaryote?
CELL MEMBRANE CELL WALL (common enough) CHROMOSOME(even though structurally different)
RIBOSOMES CYTOPLASM FLAGELLUM (even though structurally different)
INTERNAL MEMBRANES (even though rarer in prokaryotes)    


5. Give a brief description (a single word will NOT be enough) of six different types of functions performed by proteins.
Help speed up reaction rates (as enzymes) Pick up information from environment (as receptors)
Aid in recognizing and fighting invaders (Immunity elements) Used in structure
Used to produce movement Used to carry or store materials
Used to control processes Used as communication medium

6. For an enzyme whose optimal temperature is 37o Celsius, briefly discuss what's happening to the molecules involved (don't just discuss reaction rates!) at...

Temperatures
below
37o:
Rise in temperature contributes to faster rates, until heat starts to affect shape of enzyme molecules.
At 37o:
Heat effect on enzyme just balances heat effect on rate.
Temperatures
above
37o:
Heat effect on enzyme causes more and more to be nonfunctional at any given moment, until all are denatured and do not renature.

7. Michaelis-Menten Kinetics can be represented on a graph. Draw the graph, with axes properly labeled, and describe what's going on for the two main slopes and the transition point.


You need an X-Axis for substrate concentration (increasing to the right) and a Y-Axis for Reaction Rate (increasing upward).

The slope goes up from its lowest point quickly as enzymes have more and more substrate to work with an the reaction makes more product.

At the transition point, virtually all of the enzymes are becoming occupied at all times.

The top, flat slope shows all enzymes occupied and unable to work any faster, no matter how much more substrate is available.

NO ANSWERS FOR BONUS QUESTIONS.

BONUS QUESTIONS. Answer as many or as few as you wish. You can't lose points on the rest of the exam by getting these wrong. Partial credit is possible.

What sorts of different non-protein materials are produced as structural materials in organisms? Three Points each.





What are two "unusual" aspects of the amino acids found in living things, features that have to be addressed when explaining the origins of Life's chemistry? Four Points each.





What might be the advantage of not lowering a low-grade fever that has resulted from a bacterial infection? Be specific. Four Points.





Why isn't it reasonable that an enzyme would catalyze a reaction equally in both directions? Four Points.





What minerals can spur the growth of fresh-water algae? Three Points.






What minerals, according to a current theory, are needed to insure the growth of salt-water algae? Three Points.





Why exactly would an organism need a contractile vacuole? Four Points.


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