MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE PRACTICE TEST

1. The genetic code

(a) Is a sequence of nucleotides on rRNA.
(b) Determines the sequence of amino acid in proteins.
(c) Is universal in biological systems.
(d) None of the above

2. What is indicated by ‘a’ in the figure?

(a) 5′ phosphate
(b) 3′ phosphate
(c) Ribose sugar
(d) Nitrogen base

3. The length of DNA is defined in terms of

(a) Number of nucleotides
(b) Base pairs
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) μm

4. Which of the following holds true for Escherichia coli?

(a) E. coli has roughly 40 minutes of doubling time.
(b) E. coli is a parasite in human digestive tract.
(c) E. coli has 4.6 × 109 bp long genetic material.
(d) E. coli has 4.6 × 106 bp long genetic material

5. A nucleotide has the following components

(a) A phosphate group, nitrogenous base, a hexose sugar
(b) A phosphorous base, nitrogenous group, a ribose sugar
(c) A nitrogenous base, phosphate group, a ribose sugar
(d) A nitrogenous base, phosphate group, a hexose sugar

6. A nitrogenous base is linked to the pentose sugar through

 (a) Phosphoester linkage
(b) O-glycosidic linkage
(c) Phosphodiester linkage
(d) N-glycosidic linkage

7. What is indicated by ‘m’ in the figure?

(a) y gene
(b) o gene
(c) z gene
(d) a gene

8. Erwin Chargaff found that

(a) Ratios of adenine and cytosine and thymine and guanine are constant.
(b) Ratios of adenine and thymine and guanine and cytosine are constant.
(c) Ratios of adenine and guanine and thymine and cytosine are constant.
(d) Ratios of adenine – guanine and thymine – cytosine are constant.

9. What does ‘b’ represent in the figure?

(a) Extron
(b) Intron
(c) Intein
(d) Exon
10. What confers additional stability to double helix model of DNA apart from the H-bond?
(a) One base pair provides inductive effect to the other.
(b) One base pair is stacked over the other.
(c) One base pair is perpendicular to another.
(d) One base pair interacts with another base pair via steric hindrance.

11. What does ‘d’ represent in the figure?

(a) Template strand
(b) Promoter
(c) Terminator
(d) Structural gene
(e) Coding strand

12. The correct representation of central dogma is as follows:

 13. The length of human DNA is approximately
(a) 2.2 meters considering all cells of body
(b) 3.1 meters considering only one cell
(c) 2.2 meters considering only one cell
(d) None of these

14. Which statement is true in the context of histones?

(a) They are positively charged acidic proteins.
(b) They are positively charged amphoteric protein.
(c) They are positively charged basic proteins.
(d) None of the above

15. Histones are rich in which amino acid?

(a) Methionine, Arginine
(b) Lysine, Arginine
(c) Lysine, Proline
(d) Methionine, Lysine

16. ‘Beads-on-string’ structure in chromatin is packaged to form ________.

(a) Nucleosomes
(b) Solenoids
(c) Chromatin fibres
(d) Chromatids

17. Which amino acid is indicated by ‘d’ in the figure?

(a) Glycine
(b) Methionine

(c) Alanine

(d) Valine

18. In the nucleus, the region of chromatin which is loosely packed is known as

(a) Heterochromatin

(b) Chromatin fibres

(c) Euchromatin

(d) Chromosome

19. The transforming principle in Griffith’s experiment was detected

(a) When live S-strain of S. pneumoniae were injected in R-stain.

(b) When live R-strain of S. pneumoniae were injected in S-strain.

(c) When heat killed R-strain of S. pneumoniae were injected in S-strain.

(d) When heat killed S-strain of S. pneumonia were injected in R-strain.

20. In the Hershey–Chase experiments the following isotopes were used

(a) 32S, 30P

(b) 31S, 29P

(c) 35S, 32P

(d) 34S, 33P

21. DNA is a preferred genetic material over RNA due to one of the following reasons

(a) Bases are arranged linearly in a single strand.

(b) Bases show less propensity of mutation.

(c) 2’ OH group in RNA is more liable.

(d) None of the above

22. The process of replication of DNA in E. coli requires an enzyme referred to as

(a) RNA dependent DNA polymerase

(b) RNA polymerase

(c) DNA dependent DNA polymerase

(d) DNA ligase

23. r-factor in the process of transcription in bacteria is also known as

(a) Initiation factor

(b) Elongation factor

(c) Termination factor

(d) Vital factor

24. In a post-transcriptional modification, capping adds an unusual nucleotide like

(a) Guanosine triphosphate

(b) Methyl guanine triphosphate

(c) Methyl guanosine triphosphate

(d) Adenosine triphosphate

25. In sickle cell anaemia, which amino acid modification occurs in the β -chain of amino acid?

(a) Valine → Glutamate

(b) Threonine → Valine

(c) Tyrosine → Glutamate

(d) Glutamate → Valine

26. Match the column-I with column-II and choose the correct combination from the given options.
Column - I Column - II

A. Operator site I. Binding site for RNA polymerase

B. Promoter site II. Binding site for repressor molecule

C. Structural gene III. Codes for enzyme protein

D. Regulator gene IV. Codes for repressor molecules

(a) A – II; B – I; C – III; D – IV

(b) A – II; B – I; C – IV; D – III

(c) A – IV; B – III; C – I; D – II

(d) A – II; B – III; C – I; D – IV

27. The given figure shows the structure of nucleosome with their parts labelled as A, B & C. Identify
A, B and C.

(a) A – DNA; B – H1 histone; C – Histone octamer

(b) A – H1 histone; B – DNA; C – Histone octamer

(c) A – Histone octamer; B – RNA; C – H1 histone

(d) A – RNA; B – H1 histone; C – Histone octamer

28. Match column-I (Scientists) with column-II (Discoveries) and select the correct options.

Column-I Column-II
(Scientists) (Discoveries)

A. Alec Jeffreys I. Lac operon

B. F. Sanger II. Automated DNA sequences

C. Jacob and Monod III. DNA finger printing

D. Avery, Mc Leod IV. Transforming principle and McCarty

(a) A – II; B – III; C – IV; D – I

(b) A – III; B – II; C – I; D – IV

(c) A – III; B – II; C – IV; D – I

(d) A – I; B – II; C – III; D – IV

29. Name the types of synthesis A and B occurring in the replication fork of DNA as shown below.

(a) A - Continuous synthesis (synthesis of leading strand); B - Discontinuous synthesis (synthesis of

lagging strand).

(b) A - Discontinuous synthesis (synthesis of leading strand); B - Continuous synthesis (synthesis of

lagging strand).

(c) A- Continuous synthesis (synthesis of lagging strand); B - Discontinuous synthesis (synthesis of

leading strand).

(d) A - Discontinuous synthesis (synthesis of lagging strand); B - Continuous synthesis (synthesis of

leading strand).

30. Operon is a

(a) sequence of three nitrogen bases determining a single amino acid.

(b) set of closely placed genes regulating a metabolic pathway in prokaryotes.

(c) segment of DNA specifying a polypeptide.

(d) gene responsible for switching on and switching off other genes.
31. DNA replication is semi-conservative as

(a) only non-parent strand acts as template.

(b) both strands of new molecule are synthesized de novo.

(c) one of the strands in each new molecule is parental and the other is new.

(d) daughter strands are dispersive

32. Mutations which alter nucleotide sequence within a gene are called

(a) frame shift mutations

(b) base pair substitutions

(c) both (a) and (b)

(d) none of these

33. Which one of the following pair is a purine pair?

(a) Uracil, Guanine

(b) Cytosine, Thymine

(c) Adenine, Guanine

(d) Adenine, Thymine

34. Given diagram represents the schematic structure of a transcription unit with some parts
labelled as A, B, C and D. Select the option which shows its correct labelling.

A B C D
(a) Terminator Promoter Template strand Coding strand
(b) Promoter Terminator Coding strand Template strand
(c) Promoter Terminator Template strand Coding strand
(d) Terminator Promoter Coding strand Template strand

35. Transcription

(a) starts at initiator region and ends at stop region.

(b) starts at operator region and ends at telomeric end.

(c) starts at promoter region and ends at terminator region.

(d) starts at CAAT box and ends at TATA box.

36. The association of histone H1 with a nucleosome indicates that

(a) DNA replication is occurring

(b) the DNA is condensed into a chromatin fibre

(c) the DNA double helix is exposed

(d) transcription is occurring.

37. The diagram shows an important concept in the genetic implication of DNA. Fill in the blanks A to
C.

(a) A - Transcription, B -Translation, C - Francis Crick

(b) A- Translation, B - Extension, C- Rosalind Franklin

(c) A- Transcription, B - Replication, C -James Watson

(d) A - Translation, B - Transcription, C - Ervin Chargaff

38. Select the correct match.

(a) Ribozyme - Nucleic acid

(b) F2 × Recessive parent- Dihybrid cross

(c) T.H. Morgan - Transduction

(d) G. Mendel – Transformation

39. A molecule that can act as a genetic material must fulfil the traits given below, except

(a) it should be able to express itself in the form of ‘Mendelian characters’

(b) it should be able to generate its replica

(c) it should be unstable structurally and chemically

(d) it should provide the scope for slow changes that are required for evolution.

40. Which one of the following is not applicable to RNA?

(a) Heterocyclic nitrogenous bases

(b) Chargaff’s rule

(c) Complementary base pairing

(d) 5’ phosphoryl and 3’ hydroxyl ends

41. During DNA replication, Okazaki fragments are used to elongate

(a) the lagging strand towards replication fork

(b) the leading strand away from replication fork

(c) the lagging strand away from the replication fork

(d) the leading strand towards replication fork.

42. Spliceosomes are not found in cells of

(a) fungi

(b) animals

(c) bacteria

(d) plants

43. DNA-dependent RNA polymerase catalyses transcription on one strand of the DNA which is
called the

(a) template strand

(b) coding strand

(c) alpha strand

(d) anti strand

44. Which of the following features of genetic code does allow bacteria to produce human insulin by
recombinant DNA technology?

(a) Genetic code is specific.

(b) Genetic code is not ambiguous.

(c) Genetic code is redundant.

(d) Genetic code is nearly universal.

45. Which one of the following is the starter codon?

(a) UAA
(b) UAG

(c) AUG

(d) UGA

46. The first phase of translation is

(a) binding of mRNA to ribosome

(b) recognition of DNA molecule

(c) aminoacylation of tRNA

(d) recognition of an anti-codon.

47. All of the following are part of an operon except

(a) an operator

(b) structural genes

(c) an enhancer

(d) a promoter

48. Which one of the following is wrongly matched?

(a) Transcription - Writing information from DNA to tRNA.

(b) Translation - Using information in mRNA to make protein.

(c) Repressor protein - Binds to operator to stop enzyme synthesis.

(d) Operon - Structural genes, operator and promoter.

49. Which of the following is not required for any of the techniques of DNA fingerprinting available
at present?

(a) Restriction enzymes

(b) DNA-DNA hybridisation

(c) Polymerase chain reaction

(d) Zinc finger analysis

50. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) refers to

(a) novel DNA sequences

(b) genes expressed as RNA

(c) polypeptide expression

(d) DNA polymorphism.

ANSWER KEYS
1. (b) 2. (a) 3. (c) 4. (d) 5. (c) 6. (d) 7. (a) 8. (b) 9. (b) 10. (b) 11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (c)
15. (b) 16. (c) 17. (d) 18. (c) 19. (d) 20. (c) 21. (c) 22. (c) 23. (c) 24. (c) 25. (d) 26. (a)
27. (a) 28. (b) 29. (a) 30. (b) 31. (c) 32. (c) 33. (c) 34. (c) 35. (c) 36. (b) 37. (a) 38. (a)
39. (c) 40. (b) 41. (c) 42. (c) 43. (a) 44. (d) 45. (c) 46. (c) 47. (c) 48. (a) & (b) 49. (d) 50.
(b)