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B.Sc Microbiology Molecular Basis of Inheritance — practice questions

Explore 18 free Molecular Basis of Inheritance questions in B.Sc Microbiology Biology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Molecular Basis of Inheritance questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–18 of 18.

In a DNA double helix, adenine pairs with thymine throughRead the answer and worked solution →The two strands of a DNA double helix areRead the answer and worked solution →A nucleosome consists ofRead the answer and worked solution →The Hershey-Chase experiment used radioactive isotopes to labelRead the answer and worked solution →The Meselson-Stahl experiment proved that DNA replication isRead the answer and worked solution →DNA polymerase synthesises a new DNA strand in which direction?Read the answer and worked solution →The central dogma of molecular biology states the flow of information asRead the answer and worked solution →During transcription, the strand of DNA actually read by RNA polymerase isRead the answer and worked solution →Introns are best described asRead the answer and worked solution →Which eukaryotic RNA polymerase synthesises the mRNA precursor (hnRNA)?Read the answer and worked solution →The total number of possible codons in the genetic code isRead the answer and worked solution →Which of the following is the universal start codon?Read the answer and worked solution →Approximately how much of the human genome codes for proteins?Read the answer and worked solution →Order the path from gene to proteinRead the answer and worked solution →Count out the genetic codeRead the answer and worked solution →DNA or RNA?Read the answer and worked solution →Order the flow of genetic informationRead the answer and worked solution →Naming the processesRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

In a DNA double helix, adenine pairs with thymine through

  1. one hydrogen bond
  2. two hydrogen bonds
  3. three hydrogen bonds
  4. a covalent bond
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Correct answer: B. two hydrogen bonds

A and T form two hydrogen bonds; G and C form three. The unequal counts explain why G-C-rich regions are more thermally stable than A-T-rich regions.

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The two strands of a DNA double helix are

  1. parallel and right-handed
  2. parallel and left-handed
  3. anti-parallel and right-handed
  4. anti-parallel and left-handed
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Correct answer: C. anti-parallel and right-handed

Watson-Crick showed that the two strands run anti-parallel (one 5′→3′, the other 3′→5′) and coil in a right-handed spiral. Pitch ≈ 3.4 nm, ~10 bp per turn.

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A nucleosome consists of

  1. 200 bp of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histones
  2. 100 bp of DNA wrapped around a tetramer of histones
  3. 200 bp of RNA wrapped around four histones
  4. DNA without any protein
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Correct answer: A. 200 bp of DNA wrapped around an octamer of histones

**A nucleosome is the basic packing unit:** ~200 bp of DNA wound around a core of eight histone proteins (the histone octamer). Strings of nucleosomes form the chromatin fibre.

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