SOCRATIC STUDY GUIDE
BIOLOGY 1110
EXAM 3
How does cell division relate to the Cell Theory?
- Cells are the smallest unit of life, all things are
made of cells, and that cells come from pre-
existing cells thus to go from 1 to 2 cells, it must
divide.
What is binary fission?
- For prokaryotes, cell reproduction, means
dividing in half.
- Asexual reproduction is carried by prokaryotes
What differences exist between prokaryotic and
eukaryotic DNA?
- In typical prokaryotes, most genes are carried
under on one circular DNA molecule with
associated proteins constitute the organism’s
chromosomes.
- Eukaryotes wrap their DNA proteins called
histones to help package the DNA into smaller
spaces
How many chromosomes are in a human body cell?
- We have 46 linear chromosomes
What is chromatin, chromosome, and chromatid?
- Chromatin are proteins (histone) that help
maintain the chromosome structure and control
the activity of its genes and the DNA molecules.
Together the entire complex is called chromatin.
- Chromosomes are structures that contain most
of the cell’s genetic information in form of DNA.
- Chromatid: before a cell starts dividing the
chromosomes duplicate producing sister
chromatids containing identical DNA. Each
chromosome consists of 2 copies called sister
chromatids.
What are centromeres, centrosomes, and kinetochores?
- Centromeres: the 2 sister chromatids are
attached together along their length by proteins
must closely at a region called centromeres. Is a
protein complex that holds sister chromatids
together.
- Centrosomes: microtubule organizing regions in
the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells. Where the
spindle microtubule emerges from. There are 2
of these.
- Kinetochores: each sister chromatid has a
protein structure called kinetochore. The
centromere of these protein which interact with
microtubule spindle fibers that helps move
chromosomes around the cell.
-
What are spindle fibers?
- They create the tracks and ropes that help align
chromosomes in the middle of the cell during
prometaphase and metaphase as well as move
chromosomes to the opposite end of the cell in
anaphase. The spindle fibers that are released
from the chromosome attach to the centromere
region of the chromosomes to help move them
throughout the cell
What occurs during prophase?
- Chromosomes condense so we see them in
chromosome form the nuclear envelope begins
to breakdown. Centrosomes move to the
opposite poles and mitotic spindle begins to
form.
What occurs during prometaphase?
- During prometaphase the nuclear envelope
breaks down completely
- Mitotic spindles reach chromosomes and begins
to interact with the centromere complex that is
holding the sister chromatids together.
(particularly mitotic spindle interacts with
kinetochore)
- Mitotic spindle attaches to centromere of sister
chromatids.
- The mitotic spindle fiber help move/orient the
chromosomes towards the center of the cell for
metaphase.
What occurs during metaphase?
- Chromosomes are lined up in the middle of the
cell with help of the spindle.
What occurs during anaphase?
- The sister chromatids are pulled apart
- The centromere holding sister chromatids are
split apart and they are pulled towards opposite
poles
- Certain spindles help elongate the cell (take
more of an oval/ellipse shape)
What occurs during telophase?
- The cell is further elongated, and the daughter
nuclei start to appear.
- Nuclear envelope starts to reform around the
chromosomes
- Mitotic spindles break down as its not needed
What is cytokinesis?
- Occurring simultaneously with telophase
- Cytoplasm and its components are splitting into
2 cells resulting in the formation of 2 identical
daughter cells
What is the cleavage furrow?
- Occurs in animal cells.
- The cell constricts forming a cleavage furrow
- Indentation in the cells surface that initiates the
division of 2 cells
- Ring of micro filaments made of actin associated
with molecules of myosin
How does mitosis differ in plant cells?
- Plants are also eukaryotic cells that undergo
mitosis, but they have a rigid cell wall that helps
plant cells maintain their shape. The plant cell
instead splits in 2 using vesicle. The vesicle
contains cell wall material and lined up in the
middle of the dividing cells during cytokinesis
and combine to form a cell plate. The cell plate
fuses with the plasmodesmata thereby splitting
the cell in 2.
What are the stages of the cell cycle?
- The cell cycle consists in 2 main stages:
o Growing stage (interphase) during which
the cell approximately doubles
everything in its cytoplasm and
replicates its DNA
o Actual Cell Division (mitotic phase)
What triggers a cell to move into the next stage?
- A checkpoint in the cell cycle is a critical control
point where stop and go-ahead signal can
regulate the cycle
- The cell responds to environmental signal that
called growth factors that tell the cell when to
divide.
- There are proteins that monitor cells to ensure
that cell division occurs in the right steps at the
right time. AKA proteins that regulate the cell
cycle to keep things in check. These regulatory
proteins are called cyclin/cdk’s
What is cyclin-dependent kinases?
- The CDK’s are the most important cell cycle
regulator.
- Cyclins drive the events of the cell cycle by
partnering with enzymes called CDK’s.
- Alone CDK’s is inactive but binding of a cycling
activates it, making a functional enzyme and
allowing it to modify a target protein.
- CDK’s are kinases enzymes that phosphorylate
(attaches phosphate group to) specific target
protein. The attached phosphate group acts like
a switch, making the target protein more or less
active.
- The cycling/CDK complexes play a role on all
these checkpoints so we have G1 cyclins, G1/s
cyclin, S cyclins and M cyclin.
- When a cyclin binds to a CDK’s it has 2
important effects:
o It activates CDK’s a kinase, but it also
directs the CDK’s to a specific set of
target proteins relevant to the particular
cell cycle phase.
What are proto-oncogenes and tumor-suppressor
genes? Functions?
- proto-oncogenes are normal genes that encode
proteins that turn on cell divisions (tells cell to
divide). we need these genes for cell division to
grow or repair. When a proto-oncogene is
mutated it becomes an oncogene resulting in
increased and unregulated cell division. That is,
mutated proto-oncogenes cause normal cells to
become cancerous.
- tumor-suppressor genes: opposite of proto-
oncogenes. They put a brake on cell division.
They tell a cell to stop dividing in order to fix
DNA damage or cause a damaged cell to self-
destruct via apoptosis.
o EX. P53 gene and BRCA gene
What is cancer? What is a tumor?
- Cancer is an individual with a malignant tumor.
A malignant tumor is a mass of abnormally
reproducing cells that can spread into
neighboring tissues or invade other body parts,
with the potential to displace normal tissue and
interrupt organ function as it grows. Cancer cells
may separate from the original tumor or secrete
signal molecules that cause blood vessels to
grow towards the tumor.
- A tumor is a mass of an abnormally growing
cells within otherwise normal tissue.
What do cancer cells look like? *
-
What distinguishes benign and malignant tumors?
What is P53? Importance?
- protein that responds to DNA damage is called
P53
What is meant by the terms haploid and diploid?
What are homologous chromosomes?
What are autosomes and sex chromosomes?
What is meiosis? When is it used by organisms?
What occurs during meiosis I?
What occurs during meiosis II?
How does meiosis differ from mitosis?
How does meiosis I differ from meiosis II?
How does metaphase I of meiosis I differ from
metaphase of mitosis?
How does meiosis produce genetic variety?
What is meant by crossing over? Synapsis?
What is meant by random assortment?
What are non-disjunctions? Examples?
Who was Gregor Mendel?
Why were peas good for studying genetics?
What is meant by the terms P-generation, F1-
generation, and F2-generation?
What is Mendel’s law of segregation?
What are genes? What are alleles?
What are genotype and phenotype?
What is meant by homozygous and heterozygous?
What are dominant and recessive alleles?
What is Mendel’s law of independent assortment?
What is DNA?
How was it discovered?*
What are Chargaff’s rules?
Who published the structure of DNA?*
What contribution did Franklin make?*
What is the structure of DNA?
What is a nucleotide?
Why is DNA negatively-charged?
What are the nitrogenous bases of DNA?
What is meant by complementary base-pairing?
How is the double helix held together?
What is meant by the term antiparallel?
How is DNA packaged?
What are histones and nucleosomes?
How is DNA replicated?
What is a replication fork?
What roles do DNA topoisomerase, DNA helicase,
primase, DNA polymerase, and DNA ligase play in DNA
replication?
What is meant by leading and lagging strand?
What are Okazaki fragments?
What are replication ‘origins’?
*What are telomeres? Importance?
What is a gene?
How does DNA store genetic information?
How does RNA differ from DNA?
What is transcription? How does it occur?
What is messenger RNA?
What are promoters and terminators?
What is RNA polymerase?
What takes place during initiation, elongation, and
termination?
What are the 5’ cap and poly-A tail?
What is a spliceosome?
What are introns and exons?
What is translation? How does it occur?
What are codons?
What is the first codon of all mRNAs?
How many codons are there? How many amino acids?
What is transfer RNA?
What are anticodons?
What takes place during initiation, translocation, and
termination?
What is aminoacyl tRNA synthetase?
What is a polyribosome?
What are mutations? Causes?
What is a point mutation?
What are substitutions, insertions, and deletions?
Why are frame-shift mutations problematic?
How do mutations relate to the concept of dominant and
recessive alleles?
How is gene expression regulated in prokaryotic cells?
What is an operon?
How do inducible and repressible operons differ?
How does the LAC operon work?
What are regulatory genes, repressors, operators,
corepressors, and inducers?
How does the TRP operon work?
How is gene expression regulated in eukaryotic cells?
What role is played by chromatin modification?
What is the importance of acetylation and methylation?
What is epigenetics?
What are transcription factors and control elements (also
called gene switches and enhancers)?
How do they contribute to differential gene expression?
What is the significance of RNA splicing?
What are microRNAs? Importance?*
How is protein activity regulated following translation?
What are stem cells?
How do pluripotent and totipotent stem cells differ?
How is cloning accomplished?
What is the difference between therapeutic and
reproductive cloning?