Download Chapter 16: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance

A. P. Biology DNA Test Review Sheet
Chapter 16: The Molecular Basis of Inheritance
1. Know the contributions of the following individuals to the early understanding of
DNA’s structure and importance as the genetic material: Griffith; Avery,
McCarthy, and McCloud; Hershey and Chase; Chargaff; Franklin and Wilkins;
and Watson and Crick.
2. What is bacterial transformation?
3. Understand Griffith’s experiment.
4. Of what are chromosomes composed?
5. Why did most scientists think the protein was the genetic material prior to the
research of Griffith, Avery, and Hershey/Chase?
6. Understand Hershey and Chase’s experiment.
7. What information led to the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule?
8. What are the three parts of a nucleotide? How are they arranged in the DNA
molecule? What kind of bond holds the two chains of the double helix together?
9. When is DNA replicated?
10. Understand Messelsen-Stahl’s experiment.
11. What does “semi-conservative” replication mean?
12. What are the functions of primase? DNA polymerase? Ligase?
13. What is the difference between the 5’ and 3’ ends of the DNA molecule? Where
are the 5’ and 3’ ends on opposite strands of the double helix?
14. What is the difference between the leading and lagging strand during replication?
Why are Okazaki fragments required on the lagging strand?
15. What is a telomere? Why do they shorten over a period of time? In what types of
cells can they be lengthened? By what enzyme?
Chapter 17: From Gene to Protein
1. What is a gene?
2. What are the similarities and differences between DNA and RNA?
3. What are the functions of mRNA, tRNA, and rRNA?
4. Why is the genetic code “universal”?
5. What are the steps of transcription?
6. What is the main enzyme involved in transcription?
7. What is the difference between the end products of transcription in prokaryotes
and eukaryotes?
8. What happens in RNA processing? What is the function of the parts that are
added?
9. What is the difference between an intron and an exon? What might be a function
of the introns?
10. What are the different parts of a ribosome?
11. What are the steps of translation?
12. What is an anticodon? What is wobble?
13. What are the “traffic signals” in transcription and translation?
14. What is a polyribosome?
Chapter 18: Bacteria and Viruses
1. What is the basic structure of a virus?
2. What type(s) of nucleic acids make up the genome of a virus?
3. What are the stages of the lytic cycle? The lysogenic cycle?
4. What does a retrovirus need to do in order to incorporate into the host cell’s
genome?
5. What is a viroid? A prion? What are some examples of prion diseases?
6. Of what is the envelope of a virus composed?
7. How do vaccines work?
8. Describe the bacterial genome.
9. What is a plasmid?
10. What are the 4 sources of genetic recombination in bacteria? How do they occur?
11. Understand the trp operon as an example of a repressible operon.
12. Understand the lac operon as an example of an inducible operon.
13. Understand the pGLO lab, including the purpose of each of the genes are on the
plasmid.
Chapter 19: Control of Eukaryotic Gene Expression
1. What is the difference between heterochromatin and euchromatin?
2. What effects does methylation have on gene expression? Histone acetylation?
3. What are some differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA
organization?