BIOL260
Study Guide Exam #3
Chapter 7: The Blueprint of Life, from DNA to Protein
1. Know the definition of the following terms: genome, gene, protein, genomics, DNA
replication, transcription, and translation.
2. What is meant by the terms genotype and phenotype?
3. What is a gene? What is the relationship between a gene and a protein?
4. Understand all the chemical components found in DNA. Be able to draw a
representation of DNA
5. Know the characteristics of DNA and RNA.
6. Be able to explain DNA replication. What is meant by semi-conservative replication?
Know the role of all the enzymes involved in the process of DNA replication.
7. Understand the process of transcription. What enzyme is key in the process? Where
does it bind to DNA? What forms of RNA can be made in transcription? What
happens at each stage of transcription; initiation, elongation, and termination?
8. Understand the process of translation. What happens at each stage: initiation,
elongation, and termination?
9. What are the differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic gene expression?
10. Be able to replicate, transcribe, and translate a sample of DNA.
11. Understand the three ways in which enzyme expression is regulated. Know an
example of each.
12. Understand how the DNA binding proteins repressors and activators work.
13. Understand how the lactose operon works. What conditions are necessary to turn the
operon “on”, what conditions are necessary to turn it “off”? Understand what occurs
in reference to the lactose operon to cells growing in the presence of both glucose and
lactose.
14. Understand how organisms respond to environmental conditions and alter gene
expression through signal transduction, two-component regulatory systems, and
quorum sensing. How does natural selection play a role in gene expression?
Chapter 8: BACTERIAL GENETICS
1. What is meant by the terms genotype and phenotype?
2. What contribution was made by Barbara McClintock?
3. What is meant by vertical gene transfer? By horizontal gene transfer?.
4. Know the definition of a base pair mutation and frameshift mutation.
5. Understand the following terms: silent mutation, missense mutation, and nonsense
mutation, auxotroph, and prototroph.
6. What are transposons and how can they contribute to mutations?
7. What are examples of chemical mutagens? Know how they induce changes in the
DNA or contribute to the formation of mutations.
8. How do UV radiation and x-rays contribute to mutations?
9. What are the different mechanisms that bacteria can use to repair their damaged
DNA?
10. What is meant by direct selection of mutants? Know some examples discussed in
class.
11. What is meant by indirect selection of mutants? How does replica-plating work?
12. What is the Ames test? What do you need to run the test, cultures, media, etc.
13. Understand how penicillin enrichment can select for mutants.
Chapter 13: Viruses
1. What virus was one of the first studied? What contribution was made by Twort and
d’Herelle?
2. What is a bacteriophage?
3. What are some characteristics of viruses?
4. How are Chlamydia and Rickettsia similar to viruses? Are viruses considered living?
5. Describe the chemical composition of a typical virus. (capsid coat, nucleic acid etc)
6. Explain the steps in the life cycle of T4 (lytic/virulent) bacteriophage. What is the host
cell?
7. Explain the steps involved in the life cycle of lambda phage (temperate phage). What
is the host cell?
8. What is a benefit of infection with a lysogenic phage? What change may occur with
the bacterial cell?
9. Understand how filamentous phage (M13) replicate in host cells. What is unique to
replication of a ssDNA molecule?
10. What are some mechanisms used by bacteria to defend against phage infection?
11. Understand the restriction-modification system and how it protects bacteria from viral
infections.
12. If you wanted to study bacteriophages, how would you quantitate them in a sample?
13. What is the composition of a typical animal virus? What is meant by a naked virus?
By an enveloped virus?
14. What are some shapes of animal viruses?
15. Understand what is meant by acute and persistant viral infections and identify an
example of each.
16. What are the steps of infection of an animal cell with a virus that causes an acute
infection? How do the steps of infection of an animal virus differ from infection with
a bacteriophage?
17. Understand how single stranded DNA and RNA animal viruses replicate. What is
meant by (+) ssRNA versus (-) ssRNA?
18. What is unique to viruses in the family Retroviridae? What is an example of a virus in
this family?
19. Understand the three different types of persistant infections and an example of each.
20. Be familiar with the families of the viruses mentioned in class and the general
characteristics of the virus (type of nucleic acid, whether or not it has an envelope,
and the disease it causes). Use your notes and different chapters in the book to review
information on the following viruses: Hepatitis Type A, Hepatitis Type B, Hepatitis
Type C, rabies, HIV, influenza, chicken pox, herpes type 1, herpes type 2, Epstein
bar, and HPV.
21. Understand how animal viruses may induce tumors. What type of virus most
commonly induces tumors? How do viruses induce tumors in animal cells?
22. Understand how genetic re-assortment contributes to new strain of the influenza
virus. What is the structure of the influenza virus? What is the role of the H and N
spikes? What is meant by the terms antigenic drift and antigenic shift and how do
they apply to the influenza virus?
23. What are the types of virus found in this year’s annual flu vaccine? (what types of H
and N spikes would you be exposed to by receiving the vaccine?)
24. How are viruses grown for research purposes? What is cell or tissue culture?
25. What are prions? How do they differ from viruses? What is the proposed mechanism
of infection? What diseases are caused by prions?