Microbiology Multiple Choice Questions on “Genotypic Changes”.
1. Bacterial chromosome has the capacity to code for ____________ different proteins.
A. 900
B. 300
C. 1500
D. 3500
Answer: D
Clarification: It has been estimated that bacterial chromosomes have the capacity to code for approximately 3500 different proteins.
2. Which is the functional unit of inheritance?
A. DNA
B. Chromosome
C. Gene
D. RNA
Answer: C
Clarification: A gene is a functional unit of inheritance; it specifies the formation of a particular polypeptide as well as various types of RNA. The chromosome is divided into genes.
3. Populations of cells descending from a single cell are known as ____________
A. mutants
B. clones
C. wild-type cells
D. parent cell
Answer: B
Clarification: Populations of cells descending from a single cell are known as clones but a cell or an organism which shows the effects of a mutation is called a mutant.
4. The replacement of a purine by a pyrimidine or vice versa is known as ____________
A. tranversion
B. transition
C. base-pair substitution
D. missense mutation
Answer: A
Clarification: Transversion is a type of point mutation is the replacement of a purine by a pyrimi-dine or vice versa.
5. Sickle cell anemia is which type of mutation?
A. nonsense mutation
B. missense mutation
C. deletion mutation
D. insertion mutation
Answer: B
Clarification: A good example of a missense mutation in humans is the disease sickle cell anemia. A single base substitution in the codon for the sixth amino acid of normal hemoglobin A changes the sixth amino acid from glutamic acid to valine, thus forming the characteristic hemoglobin S of sickle cell anemia.
6. In nonsense mutation, the new mRNA codon specifies the same amino acid as that from the original codon.
A. True
B. False
Answer: B
Clarification: In neutral mutation the altered gene triplet produces a mRNA codon that specifies the same amino acid because the codon resulting from mutation is a synonym for the original codon.
7. Which of the following mutations result in frameshift mutation?
A. missense mutation
B. transition
C. transversion
D. insertion
Answer: D
Clarification: Insertion and deletion mutations result in a shift of the reading frame caused by the addition or loss of one or more nucleotides.
8. Which of the following mutagen causes a break in the phosphodiester backbone of the nucleic acid?
A. UV light
B. X-rays
C. Nitrous acid
D. base analogs
Answer: B
Clarification: When x-rays interact with DNA, the result is usually a break in the phosphodiester backbone of the nucleic acid.
9. Base analogs have the same hydrogen-bonding properties as the normal bases.
A. True
B. False
Answer: B
Clarification: Although similar in structure, base analogs do not have the same hydrogen-bonding properties as the normal bases. They can therefore introduce errors in a replication which results in mutation.
10. Acridine orange is which type of mutagen?
A. base analog
B. chemical compounds
C. intercalating agents
D. transposons
Answer: C
Clarification: Acridine orange is an intercalating agent that can intercalate between the base pairs in the central stack of the DNA helix and distort the structures and cause subsequent replication errors.
11. Photoreactivation can cause repair of DNA damaged by which of the following mutagens?
A. UV rays
B. X-rays
C. Nitrous acid
D. Base analogs
Answer: A
Clarification: Photoreactivation mechanism is used for repairing damage caused by UV radiation.A special enzyme designated PRE, induced by visible light, splits or unlinks the dimers formed because of exposure to UV light and restores the DNA to its original state.
12. Which of the following enzyme is used to join the DNA fragments together?
A. polymerases
B. exonuclease
C. endonuclease
D. ligase
Answer: D
Clarification: Ligase enzyme is used to join the fragments together which are formed by polymerases to fill in the gaps in the DNA strand.
13. What is the mutation rate for E.coli per bacterium per cell division?
A. 5.8 x 10-6
B. 5.8 x 10-9
C. 5.8 x 10-8
D. 5.8 x 10-7
Answer: C
Clarification: Mutation rate for E.coli maybe given as 5.8 x 10-8 mutations per bacterium per cell division.
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