Bio 11A
General Biology
Study Guide
Unit II
Ch. 8: Cellular Reproduction and Inheritance
1. What is the difference between asexual and sexual reproduction? What is the difference between
cellular reproduction and organismal reproduction? What is the difference between the
functions of mitosis and meiosis?
2. What is binary fission and what type of cells use this type of reproduction?
3. Define the following terms: duplicated and unduplicated chromosomes, chromatid, chromatin,
centromere.
4. Describe the stages of the cell cycle, including interphase and mitosis.
5. Describe all of the stages of mitosis. Be able to determine chromosome number at any point
during the cell cycle and whether the chromosomes are duplicated or unduplicated.
6. How is the cell cycle related to cancer? What is the difference between a benign tumor and
cancer? What is metastasis? What are the characteristics of cancer cells?
7. What is the difference between a haploid and a diploid cell? Which human cells are haploid and
which are diploid?
8. Describe the process of meiosis. Compare this cell division process to mitosis. How do the
processes differ and how are they similar? How many chromosomes result from each process?
9. What are homologous chromosomes or homologues? What is the biological advantage of
"shuffling" chromosomes during meiosis and fertilization?
10. What is a gamete? What is a zygote?
11. What effect does meiosis have on the genotype of gametes?
12. What is Down Syndrome and how does it happen?
13. What is a karyotype?
14. What is the difference between sex chromosomes and autosomes?
15. Define the following chromosome abnormalities and their possible results:
a Deletion, b. Duplication, c. Inversion, d. Translocation
Ch. 9: Patterns of Inheritance
1. Define the following terms: genetic trait, gene, locus, alleles, heterozygous, homozygous,
dominant alleles, recessive alleles, phenotype, and genotype.
2. Who was Gregor Mendel and what did he contribute to our understanding of genetics?
3. Be able to analyze a monohybrid cross, using a Punnet square: Determine the possible genotypes
of the gametes of the parental generation. Determine the possible genotypes and phenotypes of
the offspring. Determine the probability of producing offspring with a particular genotype or
phenotype (genotypic or phenotypic ratio)
4. What is the purpose of a test-cross and how is it performed?
6. What is a pedigree?
7. Be able to recognize genetic traits that do not follow the pattern of classical Mendelian genetics:
codominance, multigene traits, continuous variation, the effect of environmental influences,
linked genes, sex-linked traits
Ch. 10: Molecular Biology of the Gene
1. Describe the structure of DNA and RNA. What are the 5 different nitrogen bases?
2. What is complimentary base pairing? What is a base sequence? How is information stored in a
molecule of DNA?
Spring 2002
Don Bard, Instructor
Bio 11A
General Biology
Study Guide
3. Describe the process of DNA replication. What enzymes are involved? What is semiconservative replication?
4. Describe the process of RNA transcription. What is the enzyme responsible for RNA assembly?
5. What is a codon? What is the genetic code?
6. Describe the function of each of the three classes of RNA: messenger, ribosomal, and transfer
RNA.
7. Describe the process of translation.
8. What determines whether a mutation is "good" or "bad"?
9. Describe the effect that different types of single base changes in a gene could have on a protein
produced by that gene.
10. What are the characteristics of a virus? Describe how viruses differ from bacteria.
13. Describe the general process of viral replication. What is a latent viral infection?
14. What is a retrovirus? Describe the life cycle of a retrovirus. What is reverse transcriptase?
Spring 2002
Don Bard, Instructor