MIT Department of Biology

7.013: Introductory Biology - Spring 2005

Instructors: Professor Hazel Sive, Professor Tyler Jacks, Dr. Claudette Gardel

7.013 Quiz 2 ANSWERS

Question Value Score

1 14
2 16
3 16
4 24
5 17
6 13
100
Question 1

a) What role does the acrosome have in fertilization? Circle all that apply. 3 pts

i) It responds to egg’s chemoattractants.

ii) It has enzymes that digest the zona pellucida.

iii) It has enzymes that digest the nuclear membrane.

iv) It is the part of the egg that prevents sperm from binding.

v) None of the above.

b) If calcium is injected into an unfertilized sea urchin egg, what would happen? Circle one. 3 points

i) Capacitation would occur.

ii) A slow block to polyspermy would be induced.

iii) The egg will become fertilized without sperm.

iv) The egg will become female.

v) The sperm will undergo an acrosomal reaction.

c) If we now mix sea urchin sperm with these eggs (in b), will fertilization occur? Circle one. 3
points

i) No, capacitation has already occurred.

ii) No, the sperm can no longer attach to the egg.

iii) Yes, the egg is now in “ready state”.

iv) No, the egg is already fertilized.

v) None of the above.

d) Could a human sperm fertilize a hamster egg? Explain your answer briefly. 5 points

No, the egg is protected by a thick zona pellucida that can be penetrated only if the ZP3
ligands within can be bound by the sperm with the appropriate receptor. These interactions
are species specific. This triggers the acrosomal reaction which spills out hydrolytic enzymes
to make a passage of the sperm through the Zona Pellucida.

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 Name______________________________
Question 2

You wish to make your pet glow in the dark so your first step is to clone gfp gene, (encoding green
fluorescent protein), downstream of the “ON” promoter which is always active, expressing
downstream genes. You have a vector, the PON plasmid, and you’ve isolated a DNA fragment
containing a promoter-less gfp gene as well as the tetr gene conferring resistance to tetracycline.

The vector carries the lacZ gene encoding ß-Galactosidase which converts the substrate, X-gal,
into a blue colored product. It also carries two antibiotic resistance genes: kanr and ampr which
allow for growth on kanamycin and ampicillin, respectively. The lacZ, kanr, and ampr genes have
their own promoters (not shown). Assume all restriction sites are unique unless shown otherwise.
Assume that only similarly cut DNA ends can ligate with each other. You may use more than one
enzyme for your cloning. Assume all digestions are complete (no partial digestions).

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Sac I Not I Xho I
Fragment
Sac I Not I Sal I Eco RV Not I Sal I Eco RV Eco RI
Not I PON

Eco RV r
kan Sac I Sal I Eco RI
I

lac Z
Ptet
PON Plasmid gfp tetr

ori
r
amp

a) In order to clone gfp in the correct orientation downstream of PON...

i) what enzyme(s) would you cut the vector with? 6 points per side (Eco R I-EcoRI –3 pts) (Sac I-Sac I-3
points)
Eco RI Eco RV Not I Sac I Sal I Xho I

ii) what enzyme(s) would cut the fragment with?

Eco RI Eco RV Not I Sac I Sal I Xho I

b) To select for the desired construct with insert you should plate the ligation on medium
with...Circle all that apply. 3 points

Ampicillin Chloramphenicol Kanamycin Tetracycline X-Gal

c) Bacteria transformed with original vector would grow on medium with...Circle all that apply. 4
points

Ampicillin Chloramphenicol Kanamycin Tetracycline X-Gal

d) A fellow student cloned the gfp insert into the vector using Not I. However he found that
there was no expression of gfp. Why? 3 points
The promoter PON would be removed.

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Question 3

You want to identify genes that control muscle development. Zebrafish are used to study
vertebrate development, because the embryos are transparent, abundant and easily
harvested. You have two temperature sensitive mutant fish that have mutations in
unknown genes causing interesting phenotypes you name “Limp” and “Paralyzed”. At 23°,
these mutant fish eggs develop normally but if they are shifted to the restrictive
temperature, 30°, within 5 hours after fertilization, the embryos exhibit the limp or
paralyzed phenotypes.
You grow the wildtype and mutant embryos at 23°C, and then shift them to 30° at 4
hours after fertilization. At hour 10, you make sections through the trunk of the
embryos and identify different cell types that should be present at this stage in
development with specific dyes.
FP stained by FloorPlate dye
M stained by Muscle dye
N stained by Notochord dye

Wild type Limp Paralyzed

FP FP

M N M F N F N
P P

a) The Limp and Paralyzed mutants could be defective in.... (Circle all that apply.) 5 points

i) the production of a protein.

ii) the splicing of an mRNA.
iii) responding to cell nonautonomous signals.
iv) post translational modification of a protein.
v) the transcription of a gene.

b) You grow the wildtype and the mutant fish embryos at 23°C and then shift them to 30° at 6 hours after
fertilization. At hour 10, you stain as before. You observe that the mutant strains stain exactly like the
wildtype. Why is this? Circle all that could be true. 3 points

i) Transcription factors had already induced necessary genes.

ii) Enough cell specific protein had been made at 23°C.
iii) Temperature sensitive proteins are no longer required by hour 6.
iv) Temperature sensitive proteins are required until hour 10.
v) None of the above.
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 Name______________________________

You take Limp mutant fish embryos and transplant in wild type donor cells that have been
marked with a Fluorescent dye (gray). You then section the trunk and again stain as
above.
FP FP FP

M N M F N F F N M
P P P

marked cells derived from WT marked cells derived from WT marked cells derived from WT
notochord precursor cells floorplate precursor cells muscle precursor cells

c) These results suggest that the Limp mutation is ... (Not Graded)

Cell autonomous Cell nonautonomous

d) Briefly explain your answer in e). (Not Graded because of printing error.) 2 free points.

Wild type Notocord can send a signal to cells with receptors to become muscle.

You repeat the above experiments with Paralyzed mutant fish embryos and transplant in
wild type donor cells that have been marked with a Fluorescent dye (gray). You then
section the trunk and again stain as above.
FP

N N N M

marked cells derived from WT marked cells derived from WT marked cells derived from WT
notochord precursor cells floorplate precursor cells muscle precursor cells

f) These results suggest that the paralyzed mutation is ... 2 points

Cell autonomous Cell nonautonomous

g) Briefly explain your answer in f). 4 points

Unable to receive any signals from the transplants. Possible receptor mutant or
something downstream of that.

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Question 4

Early frog embryos undergo several rounds of very synchronous cell division. You decide to use
them to isolate and study proteins involved in cell cycle regulation. Similar to DNA fragments,
proteins can be isolated and viewed on gels.

After inducing the frog eggs to begin synchronous cell division, you remove, at regular time
points, a portion of the cells to isolate their proteins. After many different time points you run
the samples on a gel and observe the following pattern corresponding to one particular protein
that you name “Fred”.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

a) Which of the following hypotheses are consistent with this observation? (Circle all that are
consistent with the data.) 5 points

i) Fred is required in gap phases.

ii) Fred is required during S phase.

iii) Fred is required before S phase to enable entry into S.

iv) Fred is required during M phase.

v) Destruction of Fred permits cells to exit M phase.

You perform a similar experiment, but this time you add radioactively labeled nucleotides
and at each time point measure the amount of radioactivity that has been incorporated
into DNA. Your data look like this:

Time (minutes) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Radioactivity

b) Considering this observation and your previous experiment, which of the following hypotheses are
consistent with your data? (Circle all that are consistent with the data.) 3 points

i) Fred is required in gap phases.

ii) Fred is required during S phase.

iii) Fred is required before S phase to enable entry into S.

iv) Fred is required during M phase.

v) Destruction of Fred permits cells to exit M phase.

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 Name______________________________
c) You perform the following additional experiments.

Expt. 1) You purify large quantities of Fred that you inject into early frog embryos. You observe that
this injection:

• blocks cell division.

• results in tightly condensed chromosomes.
• does not interfere with incorporation of radioactive nucleotides into DNA.

Expt. 2) You inject an inhibitor of Fred into early frog embryos. You observe that this injection:

• blocks cell division.

• results in uncondensed chromosomes.
• does not interfere with incorporation of radioactive nucleotides into DNA.

Considering all the results from all of your experiments, which of the following hypotheses are
consistent with the data? (Circle all that are consistent with the data.) 2 points

i) Fred is required in gap phases.

ii) Fred is required during S phase.

iii) Fred is required before S phase to enable entry into S.

iv) Fred is required during M phase.

v) Destruction of Fred permits cells to exit M phase.

d) A colleague suggests that Fred might be degraded when the spindle assembly checkpoint is
satisfied. You know that nocodazole, a microtubule depolymerizing agent, disrupts the mitotic
spindle and arrests cells in prophase. So you repeat the experiment from part a) using eggs that
have been treated with nocodazole. Given this information, what pattern do you predict to be
most likely for Fred if your colleague’s model is correct? 2 points

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90

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You are interested in amplifying the gene encoding Fred from a cDNA library. Parts of
the gene are shown below.

e) What reagents would you put into your PCR to amplify the above sequence? (Circle all
that apply.) 4 points

a) primer: 5’-GCTGAC-3’ i) DNA polymerase

b) primer: 5’-CGACTG-3’
j) RNA polymerase
c) primer: 5’-CGTTAG-3’
d) primer: 5’-GCAATC-3’ k) DNA ligase
e) primer: 5’-GTCAGC-3’ l) primase
f) primer: 5’-CAGTCG-3’ m) Eco RI
g) primer: 5’-GATTGC-3’
n) dNTPs
h) primer: 5’-CTAACG-3’
o) ddNTPs
p) ribosomes

You decide to sequence your PCR fragment to make sure you amplified the correct sequence.
f) What would you put into your sequencing reaction? (Circle all that apply.) 4 points

i) DNA polymerase
a) primer: 5’-GCTGAC-‘3 j) RNA polymerase
b) primer: 5’-CGACTG-3’
c) primer: 5’-CGTTAG-3’ k) DNA ligase
d) primer: 5’-GCAATC-3’
OR l) primase
e) primer: 5’-GTCAGC-3’ m) Eco RI
f) primer: 5’-CAGTCG-3’
n) dNTPs
g) primer: 5’-GATTGC-3’
h) primer: 5’-CTAACG-3’ o) ddNTPs
p) ribosomes

g) What would your sequencing gel look like corresponding to the part of the sequence labeled
“internal region” in the figure above? 4 points
A C G T A C G T

8
Question 6

The mammalian visual system works through the pathway shown below.
In the absence of visual stimulus guanylyl cyclase produces cGMP, which opens a sodium channel.
In the presence of visual stimulus, phosphodiesterase is activated by a G protein, called
transducin. Phosphodiesterase catalyzes the conversion of cGMP to GMP, enabling the sodium ion
channel to close and sending visual cues (signals) to the brain for processing.

NO Visual Stimulus

Visual Stimulus

a) Which form is the α subunit of transducin in when there is a visual stimulus? 2 points

i) the GDP bound form

ii) the GMP bound form
iii) the cGMP bound form
iv) the GTP bound form
v) both cGMP and GDP bound forms

b) At what step(s) in the pathway does signal amplification occur? 4 points

i) guanylyl cyclase creating GDP

ii) transducin activating phosphodiesterase
iii) phosphodiesterase creating GMP
iv) all of the above
v) none of the above

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 Name______________________________

The pathway below shows a map kinase cascade that occurs when a growth factor binds
to its receptor. Activated SOS activates Ras, which in turn activates Raf, which in turn
activates MEK, which in turn activates MAPK, which results in the synthesis of proteins
that trigger cell division.

Growth Factor → Growth Factor Receptor → Sos → Ras → Raf → MEK → MAPK → New Protein Synthesis → Cell Division

c) How is the signal amplified in this pathway? Circle all that apply. 2 points

i) MAPK phosphorylates Sos

ii) The growth factor receptor degrades upon ligand binding.
iii) Each kinase phosphorylates multiple molecules of its downstream target in the
pathway.
iv) The growth factor is degraded upon binding receptor.
v) None of the above.

d) How does Sos activate Ras (a monomeric G protein)? Circle all that apply. 3 points

i) promotes exchange of GDP for GTP

ii) promotes exchange of GTP for ATP
iii) promotes hydrolysis of GTP to GMP
iv) promotes hydrolysis of GTP to GDP
v) attaches a phosphate group
vi) None of the above.

e) How would a mutant form of Raf that could not be inactivated affect the pathway?
Circle all that apply. 2 points

i) There would be no cell division; the pathway would be off.

ii) There would be no cell division; the pathway would be on.
iii) There would be continuous cell division; the pathway would be off.
iv) There would be continuous cell division; the pathway would be on.
v) This pathway would not be affected.

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 STRUCTURES OF AMINO ACIDS at pH 7.0

O O
-
O O
- O O
- O O-
C C H C C O
O
H C CH3 H C CH2CH2CH2 N NH2 H C CH2 C H C CH2 C
C NH2 NH3 O-
NH3 NH3 NH3
+ + NH2 + +
+
ALANINE ARGININE ASPARAGINE ASPARTIC ACID
(ala) (arg) (asn) (asp)

- -
O O O O- O O- O O
C C C O C
O
H C CH2 SH H C CH2CH2 C H C CH2CH2 C H C H
NH3 NH3 O- NH3 NH2 NH3
+ + + +

GLUTAMIC ACID GLUTAMINE GLYCINE

CYSTEINE (gly)
(cys) (glu) (gln)

- - -
- H O O O O O O
O O + C
C N H C H C H
C H C CH2CH2CH2CH2 NH3+
H C CH2 H C C CH2CH3 H C CH2 C CH3
N NH3 CH3 NH3 CH3 NH3
NH3 C H + + +
+
H LYSINE
ISOLEUCINE LEUCINE
HISTIDINE (ile) (leu) (lys)
(his)

O O- O O- H H O O- O O-
C C C C
H C CH2CH2 S CH3 H C CH2 H H C CH2 H C CH2 OH
NH3 NH3 H CH2
+ NH3
+ N +
H CH2
METHIONINE H H +
(met) PHENYLALANINE SERINE
PROLINE (ser)
(phe) (pro)
H H
O O-
N - -
O O- C O O H H O O
C H H C CH2 C C C CH3
H
H C C CH3 NH3 H C CH2 OH H C C
+ CH3
NH3 OH NH3 NH3 H
+ + +
H H H
H
THREONINE TRYPTOPHAN H
VALINE
(thr) (trp) TYROSINE (val)
(tyr)

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