AP Biology: CHAPTER 17
FROM GENE TO PROTEIN
1. How did diseases involving metabolic pathways lead to hypotheses about the nature of
genes?
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2. Identify some genetic diseases that occur along metabolic pathways.
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3. What was Beadle and Tatum’s hypothesis regarding enzymes?
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4. How has that hypothesis been modified?
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5. What occurs during transcription?
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6. What occurs during translation?
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7. How does the protein process differ in prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
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8. Briefly explain how Marshall Nirenberg and Heinrich Matthaei “cracked the genetic code?”
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9. What is the genetic code and why is said to be universal?
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10. List several features about the genetic code.
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11. Give an example of what happens if reading frames are altered?
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12. List the highlights of the three stages of transcription.
a. Initiation _______________________________________________________________
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b. Elongation ______________________________________________________________
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c. Termination _____________________________________________________________
13. What happens to the transcript RNA before it leaves the nucleus?
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14. What is the advantage of the 5’ cap and poly A tail?
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15. Distinguish between exons and introns.
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16. Describe the mechanism for splicing RNA.
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17. What does alternative RNA processing do for cells?
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18. Identify the roles of the players of the translation process.
a. Transfer RNA ___________________________________________________________
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b. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase _______________________________________________
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c. Ribosomes _____________________________________________________________
19. Identify and briefly describe the steps of translation. Initiation Elongation Termination
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20. What is the advantage of polyribosomes?
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21. Give an example of how a polypeptide gets into the ER for additional processing.
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22. How does protein synthesis differ between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?
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23. Define point mutations. ______________________________________________________
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24. Define mutations that are:
a. Missense ______________________________________________________________
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b. Nonsense ______________________________________________________________
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c. Insertion or deletion ______________________________________________________
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25. Use the diagram to trace the flow of chemical information from the gene to the protein product.
