Start learning →

CSIR NET Biological Macromolecules — practice questions — page 2

Explore 58 free Biological Macromolecules questions in CSIR NET Biology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

Practise Biological Macromolecules with Quill →

Biological Macromolecules questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 31–58 of 58.

A diacylglycerol carrying an unmodified phosphate group is known as what?Read the answer and worked solution →Which part of a phospholipid interacts with water?Read the answer and worked solution →What structural feature do all steroids share?Read the answer and worked solution →Cholesterol is named as the precursor of which set of molecules?Read the answer and worked solution →Which pairing of a protein with its shape class is correct?Read the answer and worked solution →How many types of amino acid are found in proteins?Read the answer and worked solution →Which amino acids are described as basic because their side chains are positively charged?Read the answer and worked solution →What sits at the two ends of a polypeptide chain?Read the answer and worked solution →How many amino acids does human cytochrome c contain, and how many are conserved across species?Read the answer and worked solution →Which comparison of cytochrome c sequences showed no difference at all?Read the answer and worked solution →What defines the primary structure of a protein?Read the answer and worked solution →How are the A and B chains of insulin held together?Read the answer and worked solution →Which amino acid substitution in the hemoglobin beta chain causes sickle cell anemia?Read the answer and worked solution →How many amino acid residues does each turn of an alpha helix contain?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the quaternary structure of a protein?Read the answer and worked solution →Where is DNA found in a eukaryotic cell?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the genome of a cell?Read the answer and worked solution →What is chromatin, and where is it found?Read the answer and worked solution →Which bases are present in DNA and which in RNA?Read the answer and worked solution →How does ribose differ from deoxyribose?Read the answer and worked solution →What distance separates one base pair from the next in the DNA double helix?Read the answer and worked solution →If one DNA strand reads AATTGGCC, what does its complementary strand read?Read the answer and worked solution →How is RNA built compared with DNA?Read the answer and worked solution →Which are the four major types of RNA?Read the answer and worked solution →If a DNA strand reads AATTGCGC, what is the sequence of the complementary RNA?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the role of transfer RNA in protein synthesis?Read the answer and worked solution →Which RNA is the smallest, and what does it do?Read the answer and worked solution →Even though RNA is single stranded, what shape does most RNA still take?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

A diacylglycerol carrying an unmodified phosphate group is known as what?

  1. A phospholipid ready for the membrane bilayer
  2. Phosphatidylcholine, a plasma membrane lipid
  3. Phosphatidate, the precursor of phospholipids
  4. A triacylglycerol with one fatty acid removed
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: C. Phosphatidate, the precursor of phospholipids

1. A phospholipid needs two fatty acids on a glycerol backbone plus a modified phosphate group. 2. The word modified is the key: the phosphate must be modified by an alcohol. 3. A phosphate group alone attached to a diacylglycerol does not qualify as a phospholipid. 4. That molecule is phosphatidate, also written diacylglycerol 3-phosphate. 5. Phosphatidate is the precursor from which phospholipids are made. 6. Phosphatidylcholine is a finished phospholipid found in plasma membranes, so its phosphate is already modified. 7. Calling it a triacylglycerol with a fatty acid removed ignores the phosphate entirely, which is the whole point of the molecule. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biological Macromolecules", section 3.3 Lipids_

Open this question →

Which part of a phospholipid interacts with water?

  1. The fatty acid tails, which are hydrophilic
  2. The phosphate containing head, which is hydrophilic
  3. Both the tails and the head, which are hydrophilic
  4. Neither part, as the whole molecule is hydrophobic
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: B. The phosphate containing head, which is hydrophilic

1. A phospholipid is amphipathic, meaning it has a hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part. 2. The fatty acid chains are hydrophobic and cannot interact with water, and they form the tail. 3. The phosphate containing group is hydrophilic and does interact with water, and it forms the head. 4. In a membrane bilayer the tails face inward, away from water, while the phosphate heads face the aqueous side. 5. Calling the whole molecule hydrophobic would leave no reason for a bilayer to form at all. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biological Macromolecules", section 3.3 Lipids_

Open this question →

What structural feature do all steroids share?

  1. Four linked carbon rings in a fused structure
  2. Two linked carbon rings and two fatty acid tails
  3. Four linked nitrogen rings in a fused structure
  4. Three linked carbon rings and a phosphate head
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Four linked carbon rings in a fused structure

1. Steroids do not look like the other lipids, since they have a fused ring structure rather than chains. 2. All steroids have four linked carbon rings. 3. Several of them, cholesterol among them, also carry a short tail. 4. They are grouped with the lipids because they are hydrophobic and insoluble in water. 5. The rings are carbon rings, so the option naming nitrogen rings changes the chemistry. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 3 "Biological Macromolecules", section 3.3 Lipids_

Open this question →

How to practise

  1. Choose a Biological Macromolecules question and try to work out your answer.
  2. Open the question to check the correct answer and read its worked solution.
  3. Continue in the app for bite-sized lessons, explanations and review with Quill. You can start without creating an account.

More Biology topics

Cell StructureGenes and Proteins