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KEAM Molecular Basis of Inheritance — practice questions

Explore 51 free Molecular Basis of Inheritance questions in KEAM 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 1–30 of 51.

DNA was first isolated and named **nuclein** by:Read the answer and worked solution →Griffith's 1928 transformation experiments used the bacterium:Read the answer and worked solution →The **Hershey-Chase** experiment (1952) used:Read the answer and worked solution →DNA replication is best described as:Read the answer and worked solution →The semiconservative nature of DNA replication was experimentally proved by:Read the answer and worked solution →A **nucleosome** consists of:Read the answer and worked solution →**Central dogma** of molecular biology (Crick, 1958) states the flow of information as:Read the answer and worked solution →The genetic code is a:Read the answer and worked solution →The **initiation codon** for translation is:Read the answer and worked solution →Which of the following is **not** a stop codon?Read the answer and worked solution →In Griffith's transformation experiment, the 'transforming principle' was later identified by Avery, MacLeod and McCarty (1944) as:Read the answer and worked solution →**Okazaki fragments** on the lagging strand are joined together by the enzyme:Read the answer and worked solution →**Reverse transcription** (RNA → DNA) is a hallmark of:Read the answer and worked solution →During **transcription** in eukaryotes, m-RNA is transcribed by:Read the answer and worked solution →In the structural gene of a transcription unit, the **template strand** has polarity:Read the answer and worked solution →Wobble hypothesis explains:Read the answer and worked solution →Translation occurs at the **ribosome**. The codon currently being read sits at the:Read the answer and worked solution →**Introns** in eukaryotic primary transcripts are:Read the answer and worked solution →DNA polymerase synthesises new DNA strand in the:Read the answer and worked solution →Key features of the **genetic code** include all of the following EXCEPT:Read the answer and worked solution →Cloverleaf t-RNA structure has, at the 3'-acceptor end, the universal sequence:Read the answer and worked solution →If the anticodon of a tRNA is **3'-UAC-5'**, the corresponding mRNA codon is (read 5'→3'):Read the answer and worked solution →DNA was first identified as an acidic substance in the nucleus by:Read the answer and worked solution →In the Watson-Crick double helix, adenine pairs with thymine via how many hydrogen bonds?Read the answer and worked solution →In a DNA molecule with 20% cytosine, what is the percentage of adenine?Read the answer and worked solution →In the Watson-Crick model, the two polynucleotide strands of DNA are:Read the answer and worked solution →The pitch of the DNA double helix is approximately:Read the answer and worked solution →Two adjacent nucleotides in a polynucleotide chain are joined by:Read the answer and worked solution →Histones are positively charged because they are rich in:Read the answer and worked solution →A typical nucleosome contains approximately how many base pairs of DNA?Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

DNA was first isolated and named **nuclein** by:

  1. Watson and Crick (1953)
  2. Friedrich Miescher (1869)
  3. Frederick Griffith (1928)
  4. Avery, MacLeod and McCarty (1944)
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Correct answer: B. Friedrich Miescher (1869)

In 1869, Friedrich Miescher isolated nucleic acid from white blood cells (pus from bandages). Because of its high phosphorus content and acidic properties, he named it 'nuclein' — later termed nucleic acid.

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Griffith's 1928 transformation experiments used the bacterium:

  1. Escherichia coli
  2. Streptococcus pneumoniae
  3. Bacillus subtilis
  4. Mycobacterium tuberculosis
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Correct answer: B. Streptococcus pneumoniae

Griffith worked with *Streptococcus pneumoniae* (S = smooth/virulent, R = rough/non-virulent strains). Heat-killed S mixed with live R turned R into deadly S — the 'transforming principle' (later shown by Avery et al. to be DNA).

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The **Hershey-Chase** experiment (1952) used:

  1. Mice and pneumonia bacteria
  2. Bacteriophages with radioactive ³²P (DNA) and ³⁵S (protein)
  3. Drosophila melanogaster
  4. Garden pea plants
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Correct answer: B. Bacteriophages with radioactive ³²P (DNA) and ³⁵S (protein)

Hershey and Chase used bacteriophages labelled with ³²P (DNA) or ³⁵S (protein coat) to infect *E. coli*. Only ³²P entered the cells — proving DNA, not protein, is the genetic material.

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