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NCEA Level 2 Modern Understandings of Inheritance — practice questions

Explore 27 free Modern Understandings of Inheritance questions in NCEA Level 2 Biology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Modern Understandings of Inheritance questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–27 of 27.

How are genes arranged on a chromosome?Read the answer and worked solution →What is synapsis?Read the answer and worked solution →A test cross of AaBb to aabb gives 950 parental and 50 nonparental offspring. What is the recombination frequency?Read the answer and worked solution →A recombination frequency of 0.05 corresponds to what map distance?Read the answer and worked solution →Who built the first chromosome map, and in which year?Read the answer and worked solution →Which recombination frequency indicates that two genes are perfectly linked?Read the answer and worked solution →Who first demonstrated crossover of homologous chromosomes in corn plants, and when?Read the answer and worked solution →Chromosome disorders fall into which two categories?Read the answer and worked solution →On a chromosome, what do the labels p and q refer to?Read the answer and worked solution →Which stain is commonly used to reveal the banding pattern of human chromosomes?Read the answer and worked solution →Nondisjunction is best described as which failure?Read the answer and worked solution →Sister chromatids fail to separate during meiosis II. What fraction of the resulting gametes is normal?Read the answer and worked solution →An individual with the appropriate number of chromosomes for its species is described as what?Read the answer and worked solution →Which trisomy is the most common among viable human births?Read the answer and worked solution →What extra dose of the affected genes does a trisomic individual carry?Read the answer and worked solution →What is the relationship between Down syndrome and maternal age?Read the answer and worked solution →An abnormal diploid egg is fertilised by a normal haploid sperm. What is the zygote?Read the answer and worked solution →Why are polyploid animals sterile?Read the answer and worked solution →Which set of features describes Turner syndrome?Read the answer and worked solution →Which genotype corresponds to Klinefelter syndrome?Read the answer and worked solution →In a person carrying several X chromosomes, how many remain active in each cell?Read the answer and worked solution →What distinguishes a pericentric inversion from a paracentric one?Read the answer and worked solution →Which chromosome carries a pericentric inversion thought to have contributed to human evolution?Read the answer and worked solution →Which code describes position 12 on the long arm of chromosome 13?Read the answer and worked solution →Sort chromosome errors into two ringsRead the answer and worked solution →Pick the pair that recombines moreRead the answer and worked solution →Drag chromosome faults into three groupsRead the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

How are genes arranged on a chromosome?

  1. In a linear order along its length
  2. In a ring with no beginning or end
  3. In clusters around the centromere
  4. In pairs at the two tips of each arm
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Correct answer: A. In a linear order along its length

1. The gene is the physical unit of inheritance. 2. Genes are arranged in a linear order on chromosomes. 3. That linear order is what makes a chromosome map possible in the first place. 4. Clustering at the centromere or at the tips would leave no way to assign relative distances. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 13 "Modern Understandings of Inheritance", section 13.1 Chromosomal Theory and Genetic Linkage_

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What is synapsis?

  1. The splitting of a centromere in meiosis two
  2. The pairing and interaction of homologous chromosomes
  3. The winding of DNA around its packaging proteins
  4. The random alignment of chromosomes on the plate
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Correct answer: B. The pairing and interaction of homologous chromosomes

1. Before the first division of meiosis, homologous chromosomes find each other and pair up. 2. That pairing and interaction between homologues is called synapsis. 3. Synapsed homologues then undergo reciprocal physical exchanges at their arms. 4. So synapsis does more than line the homologues up for separation, it sets up crossing over. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 13 "Modern Understandings of Inheritance", section 13.1 Chromosomal Theory and Genetic Linkage_

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A test cross of AaBb to aabb gives 950 parental and 50 nonparental offspring. What is the recombination frequency?

  1. 0.05
  2. 0.50
  3. 0.95
  4. 0.005
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Correct answer: A. 0.05

1. Add the classes to get the total progeny: 950 plus 50 gives 1000. 2. The nonparental offspring are the recombinants, since they carry new allele combinations. 3. There are 50 of them, arising as Aabb or aaBb. 4. Recombination frequency is recombinants divided by total, so 50 divided by 1000. 5. That gives 0.05, which is 5 percent. 6. Such a result shows the genes are definitely linked, since 0.50 would mean no linkage at all. 7. They are nevertheless far enough apart for crossovers to occur occasionally. 8. The value 0.95 is the parental fraction, which is the complement rather than the answer. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 13 "Modern Understandings of Inheritance", section 13.1 Chromosomal Theory and Genetic Linkage_

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