Supplemental Instruction
Iowa State University
Leader: Lilli Howard
Course: BIOL/GEN 313
Instructor: Dr. Vollbrecht
Date: 04/22/14
1.
Define: Comparative Genomics: Studies how genomes evolve
2.
What are the differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes?
Prokaryotes: Genome size – from less than to a few million bp"
•  Number of genes – 100’s to few 1000, average 1000 - 2000."
•  Horizontal gene transfer - exchanging genetic information from closely related or distantly related species over evolutionary time"
•  G+C content – highly variable, (~ 25% - 75%)."
•  Function of genes – only about half can be assigned a function
Eukaryotes: •  Genome size – larger than prokaryotes, typically 100s of millions to billions of base pairs (bp)
•  Number of genes – tens of thousands (~ 20,000 to 30,000)
•  G+C content – much less variable (~40% - 50%)
•  Multi-gene family – a group of evolutionarily related genes that arose through repeated evolution of an ancestral gene
•  Gene deserts – regions of the genome devoid of known genes
•  Transposable elements – substantial fraction of many eukaryotic genomes
•  Protein diversity – more combinations of domains
•  Co-linearity – evolutionarily related genomes have genes in the same relative order
3.
Define: Co-linearity: evolutionarily related genomes have genes in the same relative order
4.
T/ F : Humans have relatively short introns
5.
T/ F : Most of the human genome encodes proteins
6.
What is the goal of proteomics? What two processes are used to accomplish this?
-determine the complete set of proteins expressed in a cell or tissue
 Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
•  Mass spectrometry
7.
What is the relation between genome size and gene number in prokaryotes?
species with larger genomes generally have more genes than species with smaller genomes and so gene density is quite constant
1060 Hixson-Lied Student Success Center  515-294-6624  sistaff@iastate.edu  http://www.si.iastate.edu

8.
Eukaryotic genomes are typically much larger than prokaryotic genomes. What accounts for the increased amount of DNA in eukaryotic genomes?
-large introns and non-coding regions
9.
What makes up most of the human genome?
-DNA that’s molecular function is unknown
10.
What is the average total length of a human gene? a.
270 bp b.
2,700 bp c.
27,000 bp d.
270,000 bp
11.
A scientist determines the complete genomes and proteomes of a live cell and a muscle cell from the same person. Would you expect bigger differences in the genomes or proteomes of these two cell types? Explain your answer.
proteomes
12.
Why is knowledge of a protein’s structure important?
-structure often provides important information about how a protein functions and the types of proteins with which it is likely to interact.
1060 Hixson-Lied Student Success Center  515-294-6624  sistaff@iastate.edu  http://www.si.iastate.edu