Part A: Multiple Choice (25 marks)

1. Which of the following is a correct representation of a segment of DNA?

i. 5'ATTC3' ii. 5'ATAG3' iii. 5'AUUC3' iv. 5'ACGA3' v. 5'CCGG3'
3'ATTC5' 3'TATC5' 3'UAAG5' 3'TGCT5' 5'GGCC3'
a) i, ii, iv, and v
b) i, ii, and iv
c) i, ii, iii, and iv
d) ii, iii, and iv
e) ii and iv

2. If the percentage composition of thymine in a DNA molecule is 22%, what is the percentage
composition of cytosine?
a) 28% b) 22% c) 38% d) 26%

3. If a free phosphate is found at the 5' end of a DNA strand, what is found at the other end of the
same strand?
a) a hydroxyl (-OH) group on the 5' carbon of a deoxyribose sugar
b) a hydroxyl (-OH) group on the 3' carbon of a deoxyribose sugar
c) a phosphate group on the 5' carbon of a deoxyribose sugar
d) a phosphate group on the 3' carbon of a deoxyribose sugar

4. The percentage composition of a nucleic acid molecule found in bacterial cells is 33.3% adenine,
29.7% thymine,20.1% cytosine, and 16.9% guanine. The molecule is most likely:
a) double-stranded DNA
b) double-stranded RNA
c) single-stranded DNA
d) messenger RNA

5. During DNA replication, one of the new strands of DNA is synthesized continuously, while the
other is synthesized as a number of separate fragments of DNA that are subsequently linked. Why
does this occur?
a) replication starts at many points on the chromosome
b) replication can only start at one place on each strand of DNA
c) RNA primers only anneal to one of the parental strands of DNA
d) DNA polymerase III only synthesizes DNA in the 3' - 5' direction
e) DNA polymerase III only synthesizes DNA in the 5' - 3' direction

6. A mutant form of E. coli has been discovered in which replication is unsuccessful because the
RNA primer is not released from the leading or lagging strands. Which enzyme do you think is
nonfunctional?
a) DNA polymerase III
b) helicase
c) primase
d) DNA polymerase I
e) ligase
7. In eukaryotes, why are introns removed before mRNA leaves the nucleus?
a) they prevent the binding of mRNA to ribosomes
b) they do not code for protein
c) the mRNA would be too long to pass through the nuclear pores if the introns remained in it
d) they do not consist of the same bases as the rest of the mRNA

8. What is the function of the polyadenine tail that is added to mRNA in eukaryotic cells?
a) prevent degradation of the mRNA
b) initiate the binding of the mRNA to the ribosome
c) help the mRNA to bind to a pore in the nuclear membrane
d) act as a signal for the termination of translation

9. Which of the following does RNA polymerase participate in?

a) anneling of RNA primers to DNA
b) ligation of Okazaki fragments
c) removal of introns from mRNA
d) transcription
e) translation

10. DNA acts as a template for transcription. Which of the following statements regarding the DNA of
a gene being expressed is true?
a) after unwinding, both of the DNA strands act as templates
b) after unwinding, only one of the DNA strands acts as a template
c) one strand acts as a template in a continuous manner, while the other strand acts as a
template in shorter segments
d) the strand with the higher cytosine-guanine content acts as the template

11. Which of the following correctly describes the order in which cell components become involved in
protein synthesis?
a) DNA polymerase, mRNA, tRNA, ribosome
b) mRNA, RNA polymerase, ribosome, tRNA
c) RNA polymerase, mRNA, ribosome, tRNA
d) DNA, rRNA, tRNA, mRNA

12. Why is the splicing of the first-formed mRNA transcript by spliceosomes necessary?
a) the poly-A tail must be removed
b) introns need to be added
c) the CAP protein must be removed
d) the transcript must be freed from the DNA
e) introns need to be removed

13. A piece of double-stranded DNA consists of 18 nucleotides. How many codons would the
first-formed mRNA transcript have?
a) 18 codons b) 9 codons c) 6 codons d) 3 codons

14. The repressor protein of the lac operon has two different recognition and binding sites for other
molecules. Which of the following pairs of molecules would bind to the repressor protein?
a) RNA polymerase and lactose
b) a DNA sequence on the operator and lactose
c) a DNA sequence on the regulator gene and lactose
d) lactose and the promoter region on DNA

15. Why are there fewer than 64 (43) different tRNA molecules?
 a) no tRNA corresponds to the start codon
b) no tRNA corresponds to the stop codons
c) there are only 20 amino acids
d) both (a) and (b)

16. Why does DNA move from the well across the gel during electrophoresis?
a) the positively-charged phosphate groups are attracted to the negatively-charged anode
b) the positively-charged DNA is attracted to the negatively-charged gel
c) the negatively-charged phosphate groups are attracted to the positively-charged cathode
d) the negatively-charged DNA is repelled from the positively-charged cathode

17. Restriction endonuclease digestion of a DNA sequence yielded fragments of the following sizes,
where kb means kilo base or thousand bases long:
i. 5.2 kb ii. 0.8 kb iii. 1.2 kb iv. 3.8 kb v. 3.1 kb
After gel electrophoresis, what would be the order in which these fragments would be found
(the last fragment listed being the one that moved the furthest)?
a) i, iv, v, ii, iii
b) ii, iii, v, iv, i
c) i, iv, v, iii, ii
d) iv, v, i, iii, ii

...turn over
 Part C: Protein Synthesis (15 marks)

Rows 1 and 2 represent a section of a DNA molecule.

a) In row 1, replicate the DNA to make it double stranded. (1 mark)

b) In row 3, transcribe strand 2 of the DNA molecule. (1 mark)
c) Label the 3’ and 5’ ends of the DNA strands and mRNA. (1 mark)
d) In row 4, translate the mRNA into a series of amino acids. (2 marks)
e) Label one codon, and one peptide bond on your diagram. (2 marks)

1
2 DNA C G T A C G C G A T A C A C A G T A C T G T C A T G

3 mRNA

Rows 5 represent the same section of DNA as row 2 above, except that mutations have occurred.

a) In row 6, transcribe strand 5 of the DNA molecule. (1 mark)

b) In row 7, translate the mRNA into a series of amino acids. (1 mark)

5 DNA C G T A C G C A A T A T A C A C T A T G T C A T G

6 mRNA

c) Locate the mutations above and explain the type of mutations that have occurred
and the significance of these mutations. (6 marks)

2nd BASE 3rd BASE

st
1 BASE U C A G
UUU Phe UCU Ser UAU Tyr UGU U
UUC UCC UAC UGC Cys C
U
UUA Leu UCA Ser UAA UGA A
UUG UCG UAG UGG Trp G
CUU CCU CAU His CGU Arg U
CUC Leu CCC Pro CAC CGC C
C
CUA CCA CAA CGA A
CUG Leu CCG Pro CAG Gln CGG Arg G
AUU ACU AAU AGU U
AUC Ile ACC Thr AAC Asn AGC Ser C
A
AUA Ile ACA Thr AAA Lys AGA A
AUG ACG AAG AGG Arg G
GUU Val GCU Ala GAU GGU Gly U
GUC GCC GAC Asp GGC C
G
GUA Val GCA Ala GAA GGA Gly A
GUG GCG GAG Glu GGG G