MEDICAL ENTRANCE

XII
Molecular Basis
of Inheritance
 MOLECULAR BASIS OF INHERITANCE

INDEX

CONTENTS

THEORY ............................................................................ Page 1 - 44

EXERCISE–1 .................................................................... Page 45 - 54
EXERCISE–2 .................................................................... Page 55 - 61
EXERCISE–3 .................................................................... Page 62 - 63
Quick Review Table ........................................................... Page 64

MEDICAL ENTRANCE
XII
Molecular Basis
of Inheritance
 Molecular Basis of Inheritance
Syllabus
Molecular basis of Inheritance: Search for genetic material and DNA as genetic material;
Structure of DNA and RNA; DNA packaging; DNA replication; Central dogma; Transcription,
genetic code, translation; Gene expression and regulation-Lac Operon; Genome and human
genome project; DNA finger printing.

Chapter Index

 The DNA – Regulation of Gene Expression in

 Packaging of DNA Helix Eukaryotes
 The Search for Genetic Material  DNA Fingerprinting
 RNA World – VNTR's, RFLP, SSR, RAPD
 Replication of DNA – Methodology of DNA Fingerprinting
 Structure of RNA – Practical Applications of DNA
– Types of RNA Fingerprinting
 Gene Expression  Genomics
 Mechanism of Protein Synthesis – Human Genome Project (HGP)
– Transcription – Future Thrust of Human Genome
– Translation Project
 Regulation of Gene Expression – The Indian Scenario
– Operon  Quick Recap

The DNA
 DNA is a long polymer of deoxyribonucleotides.
 The length of DNA is usually defined as number of nucleotides or a pair of nucelotide referred
to as base pairs present in it.
 This also is the characteristic of an organism.
 Few examples are sited below :
Organism Genetic material Number of nucleotides or bp
 × 174 Virus ss DNA, Linear 5386 nucleotides
Lambda () virus ds DNA, Linear 48502 bp
Escherichia Coli ds DNA, Circular 4.6 × 106 bp
Human ds DNA, Linear 3.3 × 109 bp (n)

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Chemical structure of DNA polynucleotide :
 The basic unit of DNA is a nucleotide which has three components -a nitrogenous base, a
pentose sugar (deoxyribose), and a phosphate group.
 There are two types of nitrogenous bases - Purines (Adenine and Guanine), and Pyrimidines
(Cytosine and Thymine).
 Cytosine is common for both DNA and RNA and Thymine is present in DNA.
 Uracil is present in RNA at the place of Thymine.
 A nitrogenous base is linked to the pentose sugar through a N-glycosidic linkage to form a
nucleoside, such as adenosine or deoxyadenosine, guanosine or deoxyguanosine, cytidine or
deoxycytidine and deoxythymidine.

Double stranded polynucleotide chain

 When a phosphate group is linked to 5'-OH of a nucleoside through phosphoester linkage, a

corresponding nucleotide (or deoxynucleotide depending upon the type of sugar present) is
formed.
 Two nucleotides are linked through 3'-5' phosphodiester linkage to form a dinucleotide.
 More nucleotides can be joined in such a manner to form a polynucleotide chain.
 A polymer thus formed, has a free phosphate moiety at 5'-end of sugar, which is referred to as
5'-end of polynucleotide chain.
 Similarly, at the other end of the polymer the sugar has a free 3'-OH group which is referred to
as 3'-end of the polynucleotide chain.
 The backbone in a polynucleotide chain is formed due to sugar and phosphates (phosphodiester
bond) nitrogenous bases linked to sugar moiet projects from the backbone.
 In RNA, every nucleotide residue has an additional -OH group present at 2' -position in the
ribose.
 Also, in RNA the uracil is found at the place of thymine (S-methyl uracil, another chemical
name for thymine).
 In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick based on the X-ray diffraction data produced by
Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, proposed Double Helix model for the structure of
DNA.

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  One of the hallmarks of their proposition was base pairing between the two strands of
polynucleotide chain.
 However, this proposition was also based on the observation of Erwin Chargaff –that for a
double stranded DNA, the ratios between Adenine and Thymine and Guanine and Cytosine
are constant and equal.
 Chargaff (1950) made observations on the bases and other contents of DNA. These
observations or generalizations are called Chargaff's rules.
(i) Purine and pyrimidine base pairs are in equal amount, i.e., adenine + guanine = thymine +
cytosine.
(ii) Molar amount of purine (adenine) is always equal to the molar amount of pyrimidine
(thymine). Similarly, guanine is equalled by cytosine.
(iii) Sugar deoxyribose and phosphate occur in equimolar proportions.
(iv) The ratio of A + T/G + C is constant for a species (Base ratio, e.g., 1.52 for human and 0.93
for E.coli.
 The base pairing is a very unique property of the polynucleotide chains.
 They are said to be complementary to each other, and therefore if the sequence of bases in one
strand is known then the sequence in other strand can be predicted.
 Thus, if one DNA strand has A, the other would have T and if one has G, the other, would have
C.
 Therefore, if the base sequence of one strand is CAT TAG GAC, the base sequence of other
strand would be GTA ATC CTG.
 Hence, the two polynucleotide strands are called complementary to one another.
 Also, if each strand from a DNA or parental DNA acts as a template for synthesis of a new
strand, the two double stranded DNA or daughter DNA produced would be identical to the
parental DNA molecule.

Salient features of DNA Double Helix

(i) It is made of two polynucleotide chains, where the backbone is constituted by sugar-phosphate,
and the bases project inside.
(ii) The two chains have anti-parallel polarity. It means, if one chain has the polarity 5P  3OH,
the other has 3OH  5P.
(iii) The bases in two strands are paired through hydrogen bond (H-bonds), forming base pairs(bp).
Adenine forms two hydrogen bonds with Thymine from opposite strand and vice-versa.
Guanine is bonded with Cytosine with three H-bonds. As a result, always a purine comes
opposite to a pyrimidine. This generates approximately uniform distance between the two
strands of the helix.
(iv) The plane of one base pair stacks over the other in double helix. This, in addition to H-bonds,
confers stability to the helical structure.

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 (v) The two chains are coiled in a right-handed fashion. The pitch of the helix is 3.4 nm and there
are roughly 10 bp in each turn. Consequently, the distance between base pairs in a helix is
approximately equal to 0.34 nm. It is because of specific base pairing with a purine lying
opposite to pyrimidine which makes two chains 2 nm thick.

Concept Builder
Types of DNA and their comparison
DNA Conditions Base pairs Rotation Vertical rise Helical
Types per turn (n) per bp diameter bp (h)
A 75% rel. humidity, 11 Right handed 2.56 Å 23 Å
Na+, K+, Cs+ ions
B 92% rel. humidity, 10 Right handed 3.4 Å 20 Å
low ionic strength
C 66% rel. humidity, 9.33 Right handed 3.3 Å 19 Å
Li+ ions
Z Very high salt 12 Left handed 3.8 Å 18.4 Å
concentration

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PACKAGING OF DNA HELIX
 The average distance between two adjacent base pairs is 0.34 nm (0.34 × 10–9 m or 3.4 Å).
 Length of DNA for a human diploid cell is 6.6 × 109 bp × 0.34 × 10–9 m/bp = 2.2 m.
 This length is far greater than the dimension of a typical nucleus (approximately 10–6 m).
 The number of base pairs in Escherichia coli is 4.6 × 106. The total length is 1.36 mm.
 The long sized DNA is accommodated in small area (about 1 µm in E. coli) only through
packing or compaction.
 DNA is acidic due to presence of large number of phosphate group.
 Compaction occurs by folding and attachment of DNA with basic proteins, polyamine In
prokaryotes and histone in eukaryotes.
DNA packaging in Prokaryotes :
 DNA is found in cytoplasm in supercoiled state.
 The coils are maintained by non histone basic protein like polyamines.
 RNA may also be involved. This compact structure of DNA is called nucleoid or genophore.
DNA packaging in Eukaryotes :
 It is carried out with the help of lysine and ariginine rich basic proteins called histones.
 The unit of compaction is called nucleosome.
 There are five types of histone proteins H1, H2A, H2B, H3 and H4.
 Four of them occur in pairs to produce histone octamer (2 copies of each -H2A, H2B, H3 and
H4), called nu body or core of nucleosome.
 Their positively charged ends are directed outside.
 They attract negatively charged strands of DNA.
 About 200 bp of DNA is wrapped over nu body to complete about 1¾ turns.
 This forms a nucleosome of size 110 × 60 Å (11 × 6 nm).
 DNA present between two adjacent nucleosome is called linker DNA.
 It is attached to H1 histone protein.
 Length of linker DNA varies from species to species.
 Nucleosome chain gives a beads on string appearance under electron microscope.
 The nucleosomes further coils to form solenoid.
 It has diameter of 30 nm as found in chromatin.
 The beads-on-string structure in chromatin is packaged to form chromatin fibres that are
further coiled and condensed at metaphase stage of cell division to form chromosomes.
 The packaging at higher level requires additional set of proteins (acidic) that collectively are
referred to as non-histone chromosomal (NHC) proteins.
Non-Histone Chromosomal proteins are of three types:
(i) Scaffold or Structural NHC protein.
(ii) Functional NHC protein, e.g., DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase.
(iii) Regulatory NHC protein, e.g., HMG (High mobility group proteins that controls gene
expression).

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 Various steps in the folding and superfolding of basic chromatin
components to generate an eukaryotic chromosome
 In a typical nucleus, some region of chromatin are loosely packed (and stains light) and are
referred to as euchromatin.
 The chromatin that is more densely packed and stains dark is called as heterochromatin,
specifically euchromatin is said to be transcriptionally active and heterochromatin is
transcriptionally inactive.

Chemical Composition of Chromosome

 A chromosome consists of following chemical compositions:
(a) DNA 40%
(b) RNA 1.2%
(c) Histone protein 50%
(d) Acidic proteins 8.5%
(e) Lipid traces
(f) Ca+2, Mg+2, Fe+2 traces

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Example 1 : DNA was extracted from Staphylococcus bacterium. The proportion of cytosine was
found to be 37%. Calculate the amount of adenine.
Solution: Staphylococcus possess dsDNA.
So, amount of C = G
A=T
If C is 37%, then G + C = 74%
So, A + T = 100% – 74%
= 26%
26
A  13%
2

Conceptual Questions

True or False :
1. In TMV, if concentration of cytosine is known for genetic material, then content of adenine
can be easily determined.
2. Thymine is 7 methyl uracil.
Fill in the blanks :
3. The length of DNA in diploid human cell is __________.
4. Number of phosphodiester bonds associated with E.coli genetic material are ________ .
5. __________ forms the backbone of DNA double helix.

Ans. 1. False, 2. False, 3. 2.2 metres, 4. 2 × 4.6 × 106, 5. Sugar-phosphate

Self Assessment

Q.1 Which of the following bond is not associated with a deoxyribonucleotide?

(1) Phosphoester bond (2) Glycosidic bond
(3) Phosphodiester bond (4) More than one option is correct
Q.2 RNA possess additional group at position in the sugar than the DNA.
(1) OH, 5 (2) H, 2 (3) OH, 2 (4) H, 5'
Q.3 Hallmark of the Watson and Crick 3-dimensional DNA model was based upon the findings of
(1) Wilkins and Franklin (2) Erwin Chargaff
(3) Hershey and Chase (4) Meselson and Stahl
Q.4 Which of the following DNA form has maximum number of base pairs per turn?
(1) A-DNA (2) B-DNA (3) C-DNA (4) Z-DNA
Q.5 Which of the following is a part of nu-body?
(1) Histone octamer (2) DNA + Core of nucleosome
(3) H1 protein (4) 1¾ turn of DNA + H1 proteine

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Q.6 Choose the correct steps in the organisation of eukaryotic chromosome
(1) Nucleosome  Solenoid  Supersolenoid
(2) Solenoid  Nucleosome  Chromatid
(3) DNA  Solenoid  Nucleosome
(4) Chromatin  Solenoid  Nucleosome
Q.7 Heterochromatin
(1) Is transcriptionally active (2) Is densely packed
(3) Replicated during early S-phase (4) Stains lightly
Q.8 Non-histone proteins
(1) Are of five types (2) Are involved in nucleosome formation
(3) Control gene expression (4) Are basic proteins
Q.9 The number of glycosidic bonds associated with DNA of diploid human cell are
(1) 6.6 × 109 (2) 2 × 6.6 × 109 (3) 3.3 × 109 (4) 3.3 × 109 – 2
Q.10 Choose the correct option w.r.t. chemical composition of chromosome
(1) DNA-40%, RNA-8.5% (2) DNA-50%, Histone-40%
(3) RNA-1.2%, Histone-50% (4) RNA-1.2%, Histone-40%

Ans. Q.1 (3), Q.2 (3), Q.3 (2), Q.4 (4), Q.5 (1), Q.6 (1), Q.7 (2), Q.8 (3), Q.9 (2), Q.10 (3)

THE SEARCH FOR GENETIC MATERIAL

 The experiments given below prove that DNA is the genetic material.
(I) Evidence from bacterial transformation.
 The transformation experiments, conducted by Frederick Griffith in 1928, are of great
importance in establishing the nature of genetic material.
 He used two strains of bacterium Diplococcus or Streptococcus pneumoniae or Pneumococcus
i.e., S-III and R-II.
(1) Smooth (S) or capsulated type which have a mucous coat and produce shiny colonies. These
bacteria are virulent and cause pneumonia.
(2) Rough (R) or non-capsulated type in which mucous coat is absent and produce rough
colonies. These bacteria are nonvirulent and do not cause pneumonia.
The experiment can be described in following four steps :
(a) Smooth type bacteria were injected into mice. The mice died as a result of pneumonia caused
by bacteria.
S strain  Injected into mice  Mice died
(b) Rough type bacteria were injected into mice. The mice lived and pneumonia did not occur.
R strain  Injected into mice  Mice lived
(c) Smooth type bacteria which normally cause disease were heat killed and then injected into the
mice. The mice lived and pneumonia was not caused.
S strain (heat killed)  Injected into mice  Mice lived

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(d) Rough type bacteria (living) and smooth type heat-killed bacteria (both known not to cause
disease) were injected together into mice. The mice died due to pneumonia and virulent
smooth type living bacteria could also be recovered from their dead bodies.
S strain (heat killed) + R strain (living)  Injected into mice  Mice died
He concluded from fourth step of the experiment that some rough bacteria (nonvirulent) were
transformed into smooth type of bacteria (virulent).
This occurred perhaps due to absorption of some transforming substance by rough type
bacteria from heat killed smooth type bacteria.
This transforming substance from smooth type bacteria caused the synthesis of capsule which
resulted in production of pneumonia and death of mice.
Therefore, transforming principle appears to control genetic characters (for example, capsule
as in this case). However, the biochemical nature of genetic material was not defined from
his experiments.

Bacterial transformation experiments conducted by Griffith

Biochemical Characterisation of Transforming Principle

 Later, Avery, Macleod and McCarty (1944) repeated the experiment in-vitro to identify the
biochemical nature of transforming substance. They proved that this substance is DNA.
 Pneumococcus bacteria cause disease when capsule is present. Capsule production is under
genetic control.
 In the experiments, rough type bacteria (non-capsulated and non-virulent) were grown in a
culture medium to which DNA extract from smooth type bacteria (capsulated and virulent) was
added.
 Later, the culture showed the presence of smooth type bacteria also in addition to rough type.
 This is possible only if DNA of smooth type was absorbed by rough type bacteria which
developed capsule and became virulent.

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 This process of transfer of characters of one bacterium to another by taking up DNA
from solution is called transformation.
 When DNA extract was treated with DNase (an enzyme which destroys DNA), transformation
did not occur.
 The transformation occurs when proteases and RNases were used. This clearly shows that
DNA is the genetic material.

In vitro experiment of Avery and others demonstrating that DNA is genetic material

(II) Evidence from experiments with bacteriophage.

 T2 bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacterium Escherichia coli and multiplies inside it.
 T2 phage is made up of DNA and protein coat.
 Thus, it is the most suitable material to determine whether DNA or protein contains
information for the production of new virus (phage) particles.
 Hershey and Chase (1952) demonstrated that only DNA of the phage enters the bacterial cell
and, therefore, contains necessary genetic information for the assembly of new phage particle.
 The functions of DNA and proteins could be found out by labelling them with radioactive
tracers.
 DNA contains phosphorus but not sulphur.
 Therefore, phage DNA was labelled with P32 by growing bacteria infected with phages in
culture medium containing 32P.
 Similarly, protein of phage contains sulphur but no phosphorus.
 Thus, the phage protein coat was labelled with S35 by growing bacteria infected with phages in
another culture medium containing 35S.
 After the formation of labelled phages. Three steps were followed, i.e., infection, blending,
centrifugation.
1. Infection: Both types of labelled phages were allowed to infect normally cultured bacteria
in separate experiments.
2. Blending: These bacterial cells were agitated in a blender to break the contact between
virus and bacteria.
3. Centrifugation: The virus particles were separated from the bacteria by spinning them in a
centrifuge.

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 After the centrifugation the bacterial cells showed the presence of radioactive DNA labelled
with P32 while radioactive protein labelled with S35 appeared on the outside of bacteria cells
(i.e., in the medium).
 Labelled DNA was also found in the next generation of phage.
 This clearly showed that only DNA enters the bacterial host and not the protein.
 DNA, therefore, is the infective part of virus and also carries all the genetic information.
 This provided the unequivocal proof that DNA is the genetic material.

Hershey and Chase's experiments with bacteriophages showing

that DNA is genetic material or DNA is infective part of virus

Properties of Genetic Material :

 Following are the properties and functions which should be fulfilled by a substance if it is to
qualify as genetic material.
(1) It should chemically and structurally be stable.
(2) The genetic material should be able to transmit faithfully to the next generation, as Mendelian
characters.
(3) The genetic material should also be capable of undergoing mutations.
(4) The genetic material should be able to generate its own kind (replication).
 This can be concluded after examining the above written qualities, that DNA being more stable
is preferred as genetic material, as

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 (a) Free 2OH of RNA makes it more labile and easily degradable. Therefore, DNA in comparison
is more stable.
(b) Presence of thymine at the place of uracil also confers additional stability to DNA.
(c) RNA being unstable, mutates at a faster rate.

RNA World
 RNA was the first genetic material.
 There are evidences to suggest that essential life processes, such as metabolism, translation,
splicing, etc. evolved around RNA.
 RNA used to act as a genetic material as well as a Catalyst.
 There are some important biochemical reactions in systems that are catalyzed by RNA
catalysts and not by proteinaceous enzymes (e.g., splicing).
 RNA being a catalyst was reactive and hence unstable .
 Therefore, DNA has evolved from RNA with chemical modifications that make it more stable.
 DNA being double stranded and having complementary strand further resists changes by
evolving a process of repair.
 RNA is an adapter, structural molecule and in some cases catalytic.
 Thus, RNA is better material for transmission of information.

REPLICATION OF DNA
 The Watson-Crick model of DNA immediately suggested that the two strands of DNA would
separate.
 Each separated or parent strand serves as a template (model or guide) for the formation of a
new but complementary strand.
 Thus, the new or daughter DNA molecules formed would be made of one old or parental
strand and another newly formed complementary strand.
 This method of formation of new daughter DNA molecules is called semi-conservative
method of replication.
 The following experiment suggests that DNA replication is semi-conservative.
 Messelson and Stahl (1958) conducted experiments using heavy nitrogen (15N) to determine
whether the concept of semi-conservative replication is correct.
 They used Cesium chloride (CsCl) gradient centrifugation technique for this purpose.
 A dense solution of CsCl, on centrifugation, forms density gradient-bands of a solution of
lower density at the top that increases gradually towards bottom with highest density.
 If DNAs of different densities are mixed with CsCl solution, these would separate from one
another and would form a definite density band in the gradient along with CsCl solution.
 Messelson and Stahl created DNA molecules of different densities by using normal nitrogen
14
N and its heavy isotope 15N.
 For this purpose, Escherichia coli was grown in 15NH4Cl containing culture medium for many
generations, so that bacterial DNA become completely heavy.

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 This non-radioactive or heavy DNA (incorporating 15N) had more density than DNA with
normal nitrogen (14N).
 The bacteria were then transferred to culture medium containing only normal nitrogen
(14NH4Cl). The change in density was observed by taking DNA samples periodically.

(Separation of DNA by Centrifugation)

Messelson and Stahl's Experiment

 If DNA replicates semi-conservatively, then each heavy (15N) DNA strands should separate
and each separated strand should acquire a light (14N) partner after one round of replication.
 This should be a hybrid DNA made of two strands, i.e., 14N–15N.
 Meselson and Stahl observed that such DNA was actually half dense indicating the presence
of hybrid DNA molecules.
 After second round of replication there would be four DNA molecules.
 Of these, two molecules would be hybrid (14N–15N) showing half density as earlier and the
remaining two molecules would be made of light strands (14N–14N) Thus, after second
generation, the same half dense band (14N–15N) was seen but the density of light bands
(14N–14N) increased.
 Messelson and Stahl's work as such provided confirmation of Watson-Crick model of DNA
and its semi-conservative replication.
 Taylor proved semiconservative mode of chromosome replication in eukaryotes using tritiated
thymidine in the root of Vicia faba (faba beans).
 Cairns proved semiconservative mode of replication in E. coli by using tritiated thymidine
(H3–tdR) in autoradiography experiment.
 He proposed -model for replication in circular DNA.

Mechanism of DNA Replication

DNA replication involves following four major steps:
(1) Initiation of DNA replication
(2) Unwinding of helix

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 (3) Formation of primer strand
(4) Elongation of new strand
1. Initiation of replication.
 Replication of DNA always begins at a definite site called origin of replication.
 Prokaryotes have single origin of replication.
 It is called ori-c in E.coli.
 On the other hand, eukaryotes have several thousand origins of replication.

2. Unwinding of helix.
 DNA replication requires that a double helical parental molecule is unwound so that its internal
bases are available to the replication enzymes.
 Unwinding is brought about by enzyme helicase which is ATP dependent.
 Unwinding of DNA molecule into two strands results in the formation of Y-shaped structure,
called replication fork.
 These exposed single strands are stabilised by a protein known as Single-strand binding
protein (SSB).
 Due to unwinding, a supercoiling develops on the end of DNA opposite to replicating fork.
 This tension is released by enzyme topoisomerase.

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3. Formation of primer strand.
 A new strand is to be synthesized opposite to the parental strands DNA polymerase III is the
true replicase in E. coli, which is incapable of initiating DNA synthesis, i.e., it is unable to
deposit the first nucleotide in a daughter (new) strand without the Primer.
 Another enzyme, known as primase, strand synthesizes a short primer strand of RNA.
 The primer strand then serves as a stepping stone (to start errorless replication).
 Once the initiation of DNA synthesis is completed, this primer RNA strand is then removed
enzymatically.

4. Elongation of new strand.

 Once the primer strand is formed, DNA replication occurs in 53 direction, i.e., during
synthesis of a new strand, deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates (dATP. dGTP, dTTP, dCTP) are
added only to the free 3OH end.
 Thus, the nucleotide at 3 end is always the most recently added nucleotide to the chain.
 As the DNA replication proceeds on the two parental strands, synthesis of daughter or new
strand occurs continuously along the parent 3'5' strand.
 It is now known as leading daughter strand.
 Synthesis of another daughter strand along the other parental strand, however, takes place in
the form of short pieces.
 This is called lagging daughter strand. These short pieces of DNA are known as Okazaki
fragments, these segments are about 1,000-2,000 nucleotides long in prokaryotes.
 Hense, DNA replication is semidiscontinuous. Discontinuous pieces of the lagging strand are
joined together by the enzyme DNA ligase (after removal of primer) to form continuous
daughter strand.
 Thus two DNA molecules are now formed from one molecule.
 Each of these daughter DNA molecules is made of two strands, of which one is old (parental)
and other one is new or complementary strand.
 DNA polymerase is the most important enzyme of DNA replication.
 DNA polymerases are of three types i.e. DNA polymerase I, II and III in prokaryotes.
DNA Polymerase I : Important function of this enzyme is 5'  3' polymerization. It has
(Kornberg enzyme) exonuclease activity in both 5'  3' and 3'  5' direction It
removes RNA primer through 5'  3' exonuclease activity
and replace it with the nucleotide of DNA and can correct the
thymidine dimer (T = T) formed under the influence of
UV-rays. Also takes part in repair replication.
DNA Polymerase II : It takes part in polymerization from 5'  3' direction. Its
polymerization speed is less, i.e., only 50 nucleotide per
minute. It performs a supporting role over the activity of other
DNA polymerases.

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 DNA Polymerase III: It performs 5'  3' polymerization. It is the most important or main
polymerizing enzyme having a great polymerization speed
(about 2000 bp per second).

 DNA polymerase II & III have only 3'  5' exonuclease activity.
 Kornberg (1956), succeeded in demonstrating the in vitro synthesis of DNA molecule using a
single strand of DNA as a template.
 He extracted and purified an enzyme from E. coli which was capable of linking free DNA
nucleotides, in presence of ATP as an energy source, to form complementary strand.
 He called it DNA polymerase. DNA polymerase-I is called Kornberg enzyme.
 In eukaryotes DNA polymerases are of 5 type these are DNA polymerase , , ,  and .
 In eukaryotes, the replication of DNA takes place at s-phase of the cell cycle. The replication
of DNA and cell division cycle should be highly co-ordinated. A failure in cell division after
DNA replication result into polyploidy (achromosomal anomaly).

Self Assessment

Q.11 Which of the following types of bacteria were used in Grifith's transformation experiment?
(1) Diplococcus, R-III and S-II type (2) Pneumococcus, T2 phage
(3) Streptococcus, R-II and S-III type (4) Diplococcus, E. coli
Q.12 The biochemical nature of transforming principle was defined by
(1) Griffith (2) Avery, Macleod, McCarty
(3) Watson and Crick (4) Taylor
Q.13 In Hershey and Chase experiment, the protein of T2 phage was made radioactive by using
(1) S32 (2) P31 (3) S35 (4) P32
Q.14 Choose the correct option w.r.t. RNA.
(1) Presence of thymine in place of uracil (2) Absence of free 2'OH in sugar
(3) Mutates at faster rate (4) Is non-catalytic
Q.15 Semiconservative DNA replication was proved by Messelson and Stahl, in which DNA was
made
(1) Radioactive using N15 (2) Heavy using N14
(3) Heavy using 15NH4Cl (4) Radioactive using 14NH4Cl
Q.16 During DNA replication, strand separation by breaking the H-bonds is performed by
(1) Topoisomerase (2) Gyrase
(3) Helicases (4) More than one option is correct
Q.17 RNA primer is removed by
(1) DNAP-I (2) DNAP-II (3) DNAP-III (4) Primase
Q.18 How many types of DNA polymerases are associated with eukaryotic cell
(1) Three (2) Four (3) Five (4) Two

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 16

Q.19 Which of the following acts as substrate as well as provide energy for DNA polymerisation?
(1) Ribonucleoside (2) Deoxyribonucleoside
(3) Ribonucleotide (4) Deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate
Q.20 DNA replication is
(1) Semi-conservative, continuous (2) Conservative, continuous
(3) Semi-conservative, semi-discontinuous (4) Semi-continuous, conservative

Ans. Q.11 (3), Q.12 (2), Q.13 (3), Q.14 (3), Q.15 (3), Q.16 (4), Q.17 (1), Q.18 (3), Q.19 (4),
Q.20 (3)

STRUCTURE OF RNA (Ribose Nucleic Acid)

 RNA or ribonucleic acid is present in all the living cells. It is laevo rotatory and is responsible
for learning and memory. It is found in the cytoplasm as well as nucleus. Description of types
and structure of RNA is given below.

Types of RNA
 In bacteria, there are three major types of RNAs: mRNA (messenger RNA), tRNA (transfer
RNA), and rRNA (ribosomal RNA).
 All three RNAs are needed to synthesise a protein in a cell.
 The mRNA provides the template, tRNA brings aminoacids and reads the genetic code, and
rRNAs play structural and catalytic role during translation.
 RNA is generally involve in protein synthesis but in majority of plant viruses, it serves as a
genetic material. Therefore, there are two major types of RNA-(A) genetic RNA and (B)
non-genetic RNA.
(A) Genetic RNA -
Fraenkel-Conrat showed that RNA present in TMV (Tobacco Mosaic Virus) is a genetic
material. Since then, it is established that RNA acts as a genetic material in most plant viruses.
(B) Non-genetic RNA.
This type of RNA is commonly present in cells where DNA is genetic material. Non-genetic
RNA is synthesized on DNA template. It is of following three major types:
(a) Messenger RNA (mRNA).
 It was reported by Jacob and Monad.
 It carries genetic information present in DNA, so is called working copy.
 mRNA constitutes about 3-5% of the total RNA present in the cell.
 The molecular weight varies from 25,000 to 1,00,000.
 It is about 300 nucleotide long at minimum.
 Structure of prokaryotic m-RNA. It is polycistronic in nature i.e., several cistrons
(functional part of DNA) form a single m-RNA. Thus, each m-RNA has a message to produce
several polypeptides. Average life is 2 minutes.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 17

 At 5' end near initiation codon a sequence of fixed bases is found called Shine Dalgarno(SD)
sequence (5'AGGAGGU3'). It helps in correct binding of ribosomal subunit (30 S) on it.
 Structure of eukaryotic m-RNA. It is monocistronic in nature and has a message to produce
on polypeptide only. They are metabolically stable and their life varies from few hours to days.

 UTR (Untranslated region). They are sequences of RNA before start or initiation codon
and after stop or termination codon. They are not translated. They are transcribed as part of
same transcript as the coding region. Such UTRs provide stability to m-RNA and also increase
translational efficiency.
(b) Ribosomal RNA (rRNA). It was reported by Kuntz. It is most stable type of RNA and is a
constituent of ribosomes. It forms about 80% of the total cellular RNA.
In eukaryotes, 4 types of rRNA's found are 28 S, 18 S, 5.85 S and 5 S whereas, in prokaryotes
three types of rRNA's found are 23 S, 16 S and 5 S. It is synthesised by genes present on DNA
of several chromosomes found within a region known as nucleolar organiser.
(c) Transfer RNA (tRNA). The existence of tRNA was postulated by Crick. It is also known as
soluble RNA (sRNA). These are the smallest molecules which carry amino acids to the site of
protein synthesis. These constitute about 15% of the total cellular RNA.
It acts as an intermediate molecule between triplet code of mRNA and amino acid sequence of
polypeptide chain. All tRNA's have almost same basic structure. There are over 60 types of
tRNA.

Structure of t-RNA
Clover leaf model of tRNA is a 2-dimensional model suggested by Holley et.al. tRNA
molecule appears like a clover leaf, being folded with three or more double helical regions
(stem), having loops also. The three dimensional structure of the tRNA was proposed to be
inverted L-shaped by Kim and Klug.
All tRNA molecules commonly have a guanine residue at its 5' terminal end. At its 3' end,
unpaired – CCA sequence is present. Amino acid gets attached at this end only. The number of
nucleotide varies from 77 (tRNAalanine) to 207 (tRNAtyrosine).
There are three loops in t-RNA
(i) Amino acyl synthetase binding loop, also called DHU loop.
(ii) Ribosomal binding loop with 7 unpaired bases. It is also called TC loop.
(iii) Anticodon loop with 7 unpaired bases. Out of the 7 bases in anticodon loop, 3 bases acts as
anticodon for a particular triplet codon present on mRNA.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 18

 Structure of tRNA
A. Clover leaf model to show basic plan of tRNA secondary structure or 2D structure
B. Three Dimensional Structure showing L-shaped configuration

GENE EXPRESSION
 DNA, being the genetic material, carries all the informations necessary to programme the
functions of a cell by controlling the synthesis of enzymes or proteins.
 Beadle and Tatum put forward a theory-one gene one enzyme in support of the earlier
hypothesis that enzymes are proteinaceous in nature and each is produced by a single gene.
 They conducted experiments on the nutritional strains of pink mould, Neurospora crassa.
 This fungus grows on simple nutrient medium and has the ability to synthesize all its cellular
components.
 Such an organism is called prototroph.
 An organism that is unable to synthesize a particular cellular metabolite, such as an amino acid
or coenzyme is called auxotroph.
 Beadle and Tatum produced arginine (an amino acid) auxotrophs (mutants of Neurospora
unable to synthesize arginine) by giving X-rays treatment to the cells. Arginine synthesis
passes through the following path

Gene1 Gene 2 Gene 3

  
Enzyme 1 Enzyme 2 Enzyme 3
  
Precursor  Ornithine  Citrulline  Arginine

 They found that any step of this metabolic chain could be blocked by a mutation in a specific
enzyme catalyzing the reaction, each enzyme representing a different gene product.
 Thus, Beadle and Tatum reached a conclusion that each gene functions to produce a single
enzyme.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 19

  Some proteins, e.g., haemoglobin and other quaternary proteins are made up of two or more
than two polypeptide chains. After it, the 'one gene one enzyme' theory was modified into one
gene one polypeptide hypothesis by Yanofsky. Later Jacobson and Baltimore proposed one
mRNA -one polypeptide hypothesis.
 Gene and protein : A gene expresses itself by protein synthesis.
 When a particular gene is expressed (i.e., controls a function or a reaction), its information is
copied into another nucleic acid, i.e., mRNA (messenger RNA) which in turn directs the
synthesis of specific proteins.
 These concepts form the central dogma of molecular biology. This has been shown by F.
Crick in the following diagram.

Central Dogma : one way flow of information

 An exception to this one way flow of information was reported in 1970.
 H. Temin and D. Baltimore independently discovered reverse transcription in some viruses.
 These viruses can code an enzyme reverse transcriptase which can code DNA on RNA
template.
 This discovery was important in understanding cancer and, hence, these two scientists were
awarded Nobel Prize. The modified flow of information now can be shown as below:


Transcription
DNA   Translation
 RNA   Proteins
Reverse transcription

Reverse flow of transcriptional information or Reverse Central Dogma or Teminism

 Commoner suggests circular flow of information.

MECHANISM OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

 The process of protein synthesis consists of two major steps:
(A) Transcription or synthesis of mRNA on DNA
(B) Translation or synthesis of proteins along mRNA
(A) Transcription
 The transfer of genetic information from DNA to mRNA is known as transcription. The
segment of DNA that takes part In transcription is called transcription unit. It has three
components.
(i) A Promoter
(ii) The Structural gene
(iii)A Terminator
 Promoter seguences are present upstream (5' end) of the structural genes of a transcription
unit.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 20

 The binding sites for RNA polymerase lie within the promoter sequence.
 Certain short sequences within the promoter sites are conserved. In prokaryotes, 10 bp
upstream from, the start point lies a conserved sequence described as –10 sequence TATAAT
or "Pribnow box" and –35 sequence TTGACA as "Recognition sequence".

Schematic structure of a transcription unit

 Structural gene is part of that DNA strand which has 3'  5' polarity, as transcription occur in
5'  3' direction. This strand of DNA that direct the synthesis of mRNA is called template
strand. The complementary strand is called non-template or coding strand, it is identical in
base sequence to RNA transcribed from the gene, only with U in place of T.
 Terminator is present at 3' end of coding strand and defines the end of the process of
transcription.

Mechanism of transcription
 RNA polymerase binds to promoter region of the DNA and the process of transcription begins.
 RNA polymerase moves along DNA helix and unwinds it.
 One of the two strands of DNA serves as a template for RNA synthesis.
 This results in the formation of complementary RNA strand.
 It is formed at a rate of about 40 to 50 nucleotides per second.
 RNA synthesis comes to a stop when RNA polymerase reaches the terminator sequence.
 The transcription enzyme, i.e., RNA polymerase is only of one type in prokaryotes and can
transcribe all types of RNAs.
 RNA polymerase is a holoenzyme that is represented as (2').
 Molecular weight of holoenzyme is 4,50,000.
 The enzyme without  subunit is referred to as core enzyme.
 Though, the core enzyme is capable of transcribing DNA into RNA but transcription starts non
specifically at any base on DNA.
 It is  subunit which confers specificity. Rho factor () is required for termination of
transcription.
(a) Sigma Factor () : Binds to the promoter site of DNA and it initiates transcription.
(b) Core Complex : It continues the transcription.
(c) Rho Factor () : It terminates transcription, its molecular weight is 55,000.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 21

 Transcription or synthesis of m-RNA over DNA template

Transcription in Eukaryotes
 In eukaryotes, the promotor site is recognised by presence of specific nucleotide sequence
called TATA box or Hogness box (7 base pair long -TATATAT or TATAAAT) located 20 bp
upstream to the start point.
 Another sequence is CAAT box present between -70 and -80 bp.
 In eukaryotes, the RNA polymerases are of three types, i.e., RNA polymerase I, RNA
polymerase II and RNA polymerase III.
 Functions of different RNA polymerases in eukaryotes are given below:
(i) RNA polymerase-I  5.8 S, 18 S, 28 S rRNA synthesis
(ii) RNA polymerase-II  Hn RNA (heterogenous nuclear RNA), mRNA synthesis
(iii) RNA polymerase-III  tRNA, Sc RNA (small cytoplasmic RNA), 5S rRNA and Sn RNA
(small nuclear RNA) synthesis.
 The gene in eukaryotes, however, is made of several pieces of base sequences coding for
amino acids called exonic DNA, separated by stretches of non-coding sequences, commonly
called intronic DNA.
 Thus, the information on the eukaryotic gene for assembling a protein is not continuous but
split.
 This discovery is the result of works of Richard J. Roberts and Philip Sharp.
 They shared 1993 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine for the discovery of 'split genes'
in higher organisms.
 Most eukaryotic genes contain very long base sequences, all of which do not necessarily form
mature mRNA.
 The coding DNA sequences of the gene are called exons and the intervening non-coding DNA
sequences are called introns.
 All introns have GU at 5' end and AG at 3' end. Depending on the size of gene, the number and
length of exons may vary from a few to more than fifty, alternating with stretches of DNA that
contain no genetic information introns.
Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 22
 The nascent RNA synthesized by RNA polymerase-II is called hnRNA (heterogenous nuclear
RNA).
 It contains both unwanted base sequences (transcribed from introns) alternated with useful base
sequences (transcribed from exons).
 This primary transcript is converted into functional mRNA after post-transcriptional processing
which involves 3 steps:
1. Modification of 5' end by Capping: Capping at 5' end occurs rapidly after the start of
transcription.
The guanosine methylated at 7th position is added at 5' with the help of enzyme guanyl
transferase.
Cap is essential for formation of mRNA-ribosome complex.
Translation is not possible if cap is lacking, because cap is identified by 18 S rRNA of
ribosome unit.
2. Polyadenylation at 3' end (Tailing) : Poly (A) is added to 3' end of newly formed hn RNA
with the help of enzyme Poly A polymerase. It adds about 200-300 adenyl ate residues.
3. Splicing of hnRNA (Tailoring) : In eukaryotes the coding sequences of RNA (exons) are
interrupted by non coding sequences (introns).
Small nuclear RNA (snRNA) + Protein complex called small nuclear ribonucleo protein or
SnRNPs (or snurps) play important role in this process.
Here the introns are removed and exons come in one plane.
This process is called splicing through which a mature mRNA is produced.
 Normally, mRNA carries the codons of single complete protein molecule (monocistronic
mRNA) in eukaryotes, but in prokaryotes, it carries codons from several adjacent DNA
cistrons and becomes much longer in size (polycistronic mRNA).

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 23

 Post-transcriptional processing in eukaryotes

Self Assessment

Q.21 Which of the following is a genetic RNA?

(1) mRNA (2) rRNA
(3) hn-RNA (4) RNA present in plant viruses
Q.22 The mRNA of prokaryotes is
(1) Polycistronic (2) Monocistronic
(3) Formed by splicing of hnRNA (4) Carries genetic message to DNA
Q.23 Select the odd one out w.r.t. Shine Dalgarno sequence.
(1) 5'AGGAGGU3' (2) Helps in binding of 30S ribosomal unit
(3) Helps in binding of 50S ribosomal unit (4) Present near initiation codon
Q.24 Which of the following type of ribosomal RNA is not present in eukaryotes?
(1) 18S (2) 28S (3) 5.8S (4) 16S
Q.25 Inverted L-shaped three-dimensional structure of tRNA was suggested by
(1) Kim and Klug (2) Kuntz (3) Fraenkel-Conrat (4) Holley
Q.26 Organisms which can complete their life cycle on minimal nutrient medium are called
(1) Prototrophs (2) Auxotrophs (3) Arginine mutants (4) Citrulline mutants
Q.27 Find the incorrect match
(1) Central Dogma – F. Crick (2) Reverse Central Dogma–Temin and Baltimore
(3) Split genes – Kornberg (4) mRNA – Jacob and Monad
Q.28 Recognition sequence for transcription in prokaryotes is
(1) TATATAT (2) TATMT (3) TATAAAT (4) CMT
Q.29 Transcription starts non-specifically in the absence of
(1) Sigma factor (2) Rho factor (3) Core enzyme (4) DNA polymerase
Q.30 Tailoring of hnRNA is done by
(1) Snurps (2) Introns (3) Exons (4) 18 SrRNA
Ans. Q.21 (4), Q.22 (1), Q.23 (3), Q.24 (4), Q.25 (1), Q.26 (1), Q.27 (3), Q.28 (2), Q.29 (1),
Q.30 (1)

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 24

Genetic Code
 Term was coined by Gamow.
 DNA (or RNA) carries all the genetic information.
 It is expressed in the form of proteins.
 Proteins are made up of 20 different types of essential amino acids.
 The information about the number and sequence of these amino acids forming protein is
present in DNA and is passed on to mRNA during transcription.
 Genetic code is a mRNA sequence containing coded information for one amino acid and
consists of three nucleotides (triplet).
 Thus, for twenty amino acids, 64 (4 × 4 × 4 or 43 = 64) minimum possible permutations are
available.
 This important discovery was the result of experiments by Marshall W. Nirenberg and J.
Heinrich Matthaei and later by H.G. Khorana. Nirenberg and Khorana shared the 1968
Nobel Prize with R.W. Holley who gave details of tRNA structure. Nirenberg and Mathaei
used a synthetic poly (U)RNA and deciphered the code by translating this as
polyphenylalanine. Hargobind Khorana, using synthetic DNA, prepared polynucleotide with
known repeating sequence, e.g., CUCUCUCUCUCU, it produced only two amino acids,
leucine (CUC) and serine (UCU).

Properties of Genetic Code

1. Triplet code. Three adjacent nitrogen bases constitute a codon which specifies the placement
of one amino acid in a polypeptide.
2. Start signal. Polypeptide synthesis is signalled by two initiation codons-AUG or rarely GUG.
The first or initiating amino acid is methionine. The initiating codon on mRNA for methionine
is AUG. Initiating methionine occurs in formylated state in prokaryotes. At other positions
methionine is non-formylated. Both these methionines are carried by different tRNAs.
Rarely, GUG also serves as initiation codon. It normally codes for valine but if present at
initiating position, it would code for methionine. So, GUG is an ambiguous codon .
3. Stop signal. Polypeptide chain termination is signalled by three termination codons-UAA
(ochre), UAG (amber) and UGA (opal). They do not specify any amino acid and were hence
called as nonsense codons. Whenever present in mRNA, these bring about termination of
polypeptide chain and thus, act as stop signals. Codon UAA, UAG, UGA, AUG, and GUG are
also called as punctuation codons.
4. Commaless. The genetic code is continuous and does not possess pauses (meaningless base)
after each triplet. If a nucleotide is deleted or added, the whole genetic code will read
differently. Thus, a polypeptide having 50 amino acids shall be specified by a linear sequence
of 150 nucleotides. If a nucleotide is added or deleted in the middle of this sequence, the amino
acids before this will be same but subsequent amino acids will be quite different.
5. Universal code. The genetic code is applicable universally, i.e., a codon specifies the same
amino acid from a virus to human being or a tree.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 25

 6. Non-overlapping code. Every codon is independent and one codon does not overlap the next
codon.
7. Degeneracy of code. Since there are 64 triplet codons and only 20 amino acids, the
incorporation of some amino acids must be influenced by more than one codon. Only
tryptophan and methionine are specified by single codons. All other amino acids are specified
by 2-6 codons. The latter are called degenerate codons.

Wobble Hypothesis
 A change in nitrogen base at the third position of a codon does not normally cause any change
in the expression of the codon because the codon is mostly read by the first two nitrogen bases
(wobble hypothesis of Crick).
 The mutation that does not cause any change in the expression of the gene is called silent
mutation.
 The position of the third nitrogen base in a codon which does not influence the reading of the
codon is termed as Wobble position.
 It pairs with 1st position in anticodon. It means specificity of codon is determined by first two
bases.
 Wobbling helps one tRNA to read more than one codon and thus, provides economy in number
of tRNA molecules at the time of translation.
Mutations and genetic code :
 In a hypothetical mRNA, for example, the codons would normally be translated as follows :
UAU CCA UAU CCA UAU
Tyrosine Proline Tyrosine Proline Tyrosine
 The insertion of single base G between the 3rd and 4th bases produces completely different
protein from earlier one.
inserted base

UAU GCC AUA UCC U
Tyrosine Alanine Isoleucine Serine
 Similarly, the deletion of single base C at 4th place produces a new chain of amino acids and
hence a different protein.
C deleted

UAU CAU AUC CAU AU
Tyrosine Histidine Isoleucine Histidine
 Insertion or deletion of one or two nitrogenous bases changes the reading frame from the point
of insertion or deletion.
 Such mutations are called frame shift mutations.
 However, insertion or deletion of three or its multiple bases insert or delete one or multiple
codons hence one or multiple amino acids and reading frame remains unaltered from that point
onwards.
Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 26
  This form genetic basis of proof that codon is a triplet and it is read in a contiguous manner.
Assignment of mRNA codons to Amino Acids

Concept Builder
Difference between Universal genetic code and Mitochondrial genetic code
S.No. Universal Mitochondiral code (mammals, yeast)
1. 55 anticodons (tRNA) 22 anticodons (tRNA)
2. 3 termination codons 4 termination codons
UAA, UAG, UGA UAA, UAG, AGA, AGG
(a) UGA = Termination codon (a) UGA code for tryptophan
(b) AGA, AGG code for arginine (b) AGA and AGG are termination codons

Conceptual Questions
Fill in the blanks :
1. During DNA replication, primer is formed by __________.
2. TC loop of tRNA shows binding with __________.
3. Initiation of prokaryotic transcription is performed by ______ factor after binding with ______
site.
True or False :
4. The hnRNA is primary transcript produced in prokaryotes.
5. In total, there are five punctuation codons.

Ans. 1. Primase, 2. Ribosome, 3. Sigma, 4. False, 5. True

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 27

(B) Translation
 It is the mechanism by which the triplet base sequences of m-RNA molecules are converted
into a specific sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide-chain. It occurs on ribosomes.
 The major steps are:
(a) Activation of amino acids. In the presence of enzyme aminoacyl -tRNA synthetase (E),
specific amino acids (AA) bind with ATP
2
E1 Mg
AA1  ATP   AA1  AMP  E1 complex  PP1
(b) Charging of t-RNA. The AA1-AMP-E1 complex formed in first step reacts with a specific
tRNA. Thus, amino acid is transferred to tRNA. As a result, the enzyme and AMP are liberate
AA1  AMP  E1 complex  tRNA1 
 AA1  tRNA1  AMP  E1
(Charged tRNA)

(c) Formation of polypeptide chain. It is completed in three steps.

(i) Chain Initiation. It requires 3 initiation factors in prokaryotes i.e., IF3, IF2, IF1.
9 initiation factors are required in eukaryotes i.e., eIF2, eIF3, eIF1, eIF4A, eIF4B, eIF4C, eIF4D,
eIF5, eIF6.
(a) Binding of mRNA with smaller subunit of ribosomes (30S/40S). IF3 is involved in
prokaryotes, while eIF2 is involved in eukaryotes. It involves interaction between Shine
Delgarno sequence and 3' end of 16 S rRNA in prokaryotes.
(b) Binding of 30S / 40S-mRNA complex with t-RNA. Non-formylated methionine is attached
with tRNA in eukaryotes and formylated methionine in prokaryotes. IF2 is involved in
prokaryotes and eIF3 in eukaryotes.
IF2 / eIF3
40S /30S-mRNA complex + tRNAmet 
GTP
 40S/30S-mRNA-tRNAmet complex.
(c) Attachment of larger subunit of ribosomes.
Initiation factors in eukaryotes -eIFl, eIF4.
Initiation factors in prokaryotes -IF1.
(ii) Chain elongation.
 Ribosomes have two sites for binding amino acyl tRNA (i) Amino acyl or A site (acceptor
site) (ii) Peptidyl site or P site (donor site).
 A second charged tRNA molecule along with its appropriate amino acid approaches the
ribosome at A site close to the P site.
 Its anticodon binds to complementary codon of mRNA chain.
 A peptide bond is formed between COOH group of first amino acid (methionine) and NH2
group of second amino acid.
 The formation of peptide bond requires energy and is catalysed by enzyme peptidyl
transferase. The initiating formyl methionine or methionine tRNA can bind only with P site.
 All other newly coming aminoacyl tRNA bind to A site.
 The elongation factor required for prokaryotes are EF-Tu and EF-Ts and in eukaryotes eEF1.
 Translocation is movement of ribosome on mRNA. It requires EF -G in prokaryotes and eEF2
in eukaryotes.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 28

 (iii) Chain termination. The termination of polypeptide is signalled by one of the three terminal
codons in the mRNA. The three terminal codons are UAG (Amber), UAA (Ochre) and UGA
(Opal).
 A GTP dependent factor known as release factor is associated with termination codon. It is
eRF1 in eukaryotes and RF1 and RF2 in prokaryotes.
 At the time of termination, the terminal codon immediately follows the last amino acid codon.
After this, the polypeptide chain, tRNA, mRNA are released and the subunits of ribosomes get
dissociated.

Concept Builder
There are some metabolic inhibitors which inhibit the synthesis of proteins in bacteria. These
antibiotics are used in checking the growth of certain bacteria which are pathogenic in nature
e.g.,
Tetracycline - Inhibits binding of amino-acyl tRNA to ribosomes
Streptomycin - Inhibits initiation of translation and causes misreading
Choloramphenicol - Inhibits peptidyl transferase activity
Erythromycin - Inhibits translocation of mRNA along ribosomes
Neomycin - Inhibits interaction between tRNA and mRNA.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 29

  Gene expression is the mechanism at the molecular level by which a gene is able to express
itself in the phenotype of an organism.
 In the translation unit, mRNA has some sequences that are not translated and are referred to as
untranslated regions (UTR).
 The UTRs are present at both 5' end (before start codon) and at 3' end (after stop codon).
 They are required for efficient translation process.

Self Assessment

Q.31 Formylated methionine acts as translation initiation in

(1) Prokaryotes (2) Eukaryotes (3) Viruses (4) Archaebacteria
Q.32 Which of the following codons is known as ochre?
(1) UAG (2) UGA (3) UAA (4) UUU
Q.33 Which of the following is an ambiguous codon?
(1) AUG (2) GUG (3) UAG (4) GAG
Q.34 Which property of genetic code is utilised in wobble hypothesis?
(1) Degeneracy (2) Non-overlapping (3) Non-ambiguous (4) Universal
Q.35 In the mitochondrial DNA, UGA codes for
(1) Chain termination (2) Chain initiation (3) Tryptophan (4) Tyrosine
Q.36 Activation of aminoacids during translation is done by
(1) Peptidyl transferase (2) Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase
(3) Methionine (4) Initiation factors
Q.37 Movement of ribosome on mRNA is called
(1) Transcription (2) Translation (3) Translocation (4) Protein synthesis
Q.38 The elongation factors required for prokaryotes are
(1) EF-Tu and EF-Ts (2) eEF1 (3) eIF2 (4) eEF2
Q.39 Which of the following inhibits binding of amino-acyl tRNA to ribosomes?
(1) Neomycin (2) Erythromycin (3) Streptomycin (4) Tetracycline
Q.40 The mechanism by which a gene is able to express itself in the phenotype of an organism is
called
(1) Gene expression (2) RNA synthesis (3) Translocation (4) Formylation
Ans. Q.31 (1), Q.32 (3), Q.33 (2), Q.34 (1), Q.35 (3), Q.36 (2), Q.37 (3), Q.38 (1), Q.39 (4),
Q.40 (1)

REGULATION OF GENE EXPRESSION

1. Constitutive genes are those genes which are constantly expressing themselves in a cell
because their products are required for the normal cellular activities, e.g., genes for glycolysis,
ATPase.
2. Non-constitutive genes are not always expressing themselves in a cell. These are called
Luxury genes. They are switched on or off according to the requirement of cellular activities,
e.g., gene for nitrate reductase in plants, lactose system in Escherichia coli.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 30

  This provides maximum functional efficiency to the cell. Such regulated genes, therefore are
required to be switched 'on' and 'off' when a particular function is to begin or stop.
 This regulation can be achieved by anyone of the following two processes:
(1) Induction. This is a process of gene regulation where addition of a substrate stimulates or
induces synthesis of enzymes needed for its own breakdown.
(2) Repression. In this process of gene regulation, addition of end product stops the synthesis of
enzymes needed for its formation. This phenomenon is also known as feedback repression.

Operon
 Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod (1961) proposed a model of gene regulation, known as
Operon model.
 Operon is a co-ordinated group of genes such as structural genes, operator gene, promoter
gene, regulator gene which function or transcribe together and regulate a metabolic pathway
as a unit.
Inducible operon (lac operon)
 In Escherichia coli, breakdown of lactose requires three enzymes.
 These enzymes are synthesized together in a co-ordinated manner and the unit is known as lac
operon.
 Since the addition of lactose itself stimulates the production of required enzymes, it is also
known as inducible system.

Lac operon
 lac operon consists of following genes :
(1) Structural genes. These genes code for the proteins needed by the cell which include enzymes
or other proteins having structural functions.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 31

 In lac-operon, there are following three structural genes:
(i) lac a -gene coding for enzyme transacetylase
(ii) lac y -gene coding for enzyme permease
(iii) lac z -gene coding for enzyme -galactosidase
(2) Operator gene (o). It interacts with a protein molecule (the regulator molecule), which
promotes (induce) or prevents (repress) the transcription of structural genes.
(3) Promoter gene (p). This gene is the recognition point where RNA polymerase remains
associated.
(4) Regulator gene (i). This is generally known as inhibitory gene (i). This gene codes for a
protein called the repressor protein. It is an allosteric protein which can exist in two forms. In
one form, it is paratactic to an operator and binds with it and in another form it is paratactic to
inducer (like lactose).
 The operon is switched 'off' and 'on'.
 The transcription or function of lac genes or structural genes depends upon operator gene.
 When repressor protein produced by inhibitory gene (i) or regulatory gene binds to operator (o)
gene, RNA polymerase gets blocked. There would be no transcription and the operon model
remains in 'switched off' position.
 On the other hand, when inducer like lactose is added, the repressor protein (produced by gene
i) gets bound to it.
 The repressor, therefore, gets released from the operator.
 RNA polymerase is now permitted to act.
 Hence, the transcription of lac genes now takes place and the operon model is in 'switched on'
position.
 All the three genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase to form a single mRNA strand.
 Each gene segment of mRNA is called cistron and, therefore, mRNA strand transcribed by
more than one gene is known as polycistronic.

Tryptophan Operon -Repressible Operon System

 Operon model can also be explained using feed-back repression.
 In tryptophan (trp) operon, three enzymes are necessary for the synthesis of amino acid
tryptophan.
 These enzymes are synthesized by the activity of five different genes in a co-ordinated manner.
 The addition of tryptophan, however, stops the production of these enzymes.
 Thus, the system is known as repressible system.
 In this system, there are five structural genes, trp A, trp B, trp C, trp D and trp E, coding for
three enzyme needed for the synthesis of tryptophan, an amino acid.
 Regulatory gene (R) produces repressor protein which is known as apo-repressor because it
does not get bound to the operator directly.
 Hence, the operator gene remains in 'switched on' position.
 Tryptophan when added, binds to the apo-repressor and is called co-repressor.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 32

  This apo-repressor and co-repressor complex (activated repressor) now binds to operator gene
and blocks the function of RNA polymerase.
 Thus, transcription would not occur and tryptophan operon would be in 'switched off'
position.
 Feed-back repression is functional when there is no further need of the end product and, hence,
there is no requirement of continuation of this anabolic pathway.
 This operon stops the process.

Tryptophan operon model of gene regulation in bacteria

 In the prokaryotes, control of the rate of transcriptional initiation is the predominant site for
control of gene expression.

Regulation of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes

 In eukaryotes, the regulation of gene expression could be exerted at four levels:
(i) Transcriptional level (formation of primary transcript)
(ii) Processing level (regulation of splicing)
(iii) Transport of mRNA from nucleus to the cytoplasm
(iv) Translational level
 In eukaryotes, functionally related genes do not represent an operon but are present on
different sites in chromosomes.
 Here, structural gene is called split gene which is a mosaic of exons and introns, i.e., base
triplet -amino acid matching is not continuous.
 Britten -Davidson gene battery model is most popular for eukaryotic genes.
 It proposes the occurrence of 5-types of genes-producer, receptor, integrator, sensor and
enhancer-silencer.
 Exons are coding part of cistron that forms RNA.
 Introns are non-translated part of DNA called IVS (intervening sequences) or spacer DNA.
 An intron begins with GU and ends up with an AG.
 However, the entire split gene is transcribed to form a continuous strip of hn-RNA.
 This removal of non-coding intronic part and fusion of exonic coding parts of RNA is called
RNA splicing. About 50-90% of primary transcribed RNA is discarded during processing.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 33

Concept Builder
Homeotic Genes
 These genes control development.
 Such genes have been studied extensively in Drosophila.
 The control is exerted through homeodomain proteins.
 These proteins are formed by a conserved sequence or homeobox.
 Homeobox are present in the coding region of homeotic genes
 Mutation in homeotic genes results in conversion of one body part into another e.g., an insect
leg may change into antenna.
Oncogenes :
 The tumour forming property of cells is due to presence of tumour forming genes known as
oncogenes. Oncogenes present in virus are known as v-oncogene while those present in host
cell are known as c-oncogene. c-oncogene are usually present in the form of proto-oncogene.
Any mutation may convert these genes into oncogenes.

DNA FINGERPRINTING
 What is DNA Fingerprinting?
 The chemical structure of everyone's DNA is the same.
 The only difference between people (or any animal) is the order of the base pairs.
 There are so many millions of base pairs in each person's DNA that every person has a
different sequence.
 Using these sequences, every person could be identified solely by the sequence of their base
pairs.
 However, there are so many millions of base pairs due to which the task would be very time
consuming.
 Instead, scientists are able to use a shorter method, because of repeating base patterns in DNA
(Satellite DNA).
 These patterns do not, however, give an individual "fingerprint," but they are able to determine
whether two DNA samples are from the same person, related people, or non-related
individuals.

VNTR's, RFLP, SSR, RAPD

 Every strand of DNA has stretches that contain genetic information which are responsible for
an organism's development (exons) and stretches that, apparently, supply no relevant genetic
information at all (introns).
 Although the introns may seem useless, it has been found that they contain repeated sequences
of base pairs.
 These sequences are called Variable Number Tandem Repeats (VNTRs).
 VNTR's also called minisatellites were discovered by Alec Jeffreys et. al. of U.K.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 34

  These consist of hypervariable repeat regions of DNA having a basic repeat sequence of 11-60
bp and flanked on both sides by restriction sites.
 The number of repeats show a very high degree of polymophism and the size of VNTR varies
from 0.1 to 20 Kb. The length of minisatellites and position of restriction sites is different for
each person.
 Therefore, when the genomes of two people are cut using the same restriction enzyme, the
length and number of fragments obtained is different for both.
 This is called RFLP or Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism.
 These fragments, when separated by gel electrophoresis, and obtained on a Southern Blot,
constitutes what is called DNA fingerprint.
 Father of DNA fingerprinting is Alec Jeffreys while the Indian experts Lalji Singh and V.K.
Kashyap are known as Father of Indian technique.

Concept Builder

 Now-a-days RAPD's or Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA are used for DNA
fingerprinting (pronounced 'rapid').
 It is a simpler technique than RFLP.
 The DNA sequences flanking microsatellites (or SSRs i.e., simple sequence repeats or short
tandem repeats) on both sides are conserved, so one can select primers complementary for
these sequences and put these along with the genome in a thermal cycler.
 The PCR will amplify the intervening microsatellites which can also be radiolabelled by using
32
p.
 The microsatellites have simple sequences of 1-6 bp. repeated hundreds of times.

Self Assessment

Q.41 The genes which are constantly expressing themselves in cell are called as
(1) Luxury genes (2) Constitutive genes
(3) Non-constitutive genes (4) More than one option is correct
Q.42 How many structural genes are present in lac-operon of E. coli?
(1) 4 (2) 3 (3) 2 (4) 1
Q.43 In lac-operon, -galactosidase enzyme is made by lac-operon of E.coli ?
(1) lac-y (2) lac-a (3) lac-z (4) lac-i
Q.44 Inducer molecule in lac-operon of E coli is chemically a/an
(1) Disaccharide (2) Amino acid (3) Protein (4) RNA
Q.45 Tryptophan operon is
(1) Catabolicsystem (2) Repressible system
(3) Inducible system (4) Having three structural genes

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 35

Q.46 Choose the correct option w.r.t. the chemical nature of apo-repressor and co-repressor
respectively in trp-operon?
(1) Protein, Amino acid (2) Amino acid, Protein
(3) Lipoidal, Sugary (4) Sugary, Lipoidal
Q.47 Gene battery model was proposed by
(1) Jacob and Monad (2) Gamow
(3) H.G. Khorana (4) Britten and Davidson
Q.48 An insect leg may change into antenna due to mutation in
(1) c-oncogene (2) v-oncogene (3) Homeotic genes (4) Proto-oncogene
Q.49 VNTR's consist of hyper variable repeat regions of DNA having a basic repeat sequence of
________ bp and flanked on both sides by _________.
(1) 1-6 bp, GC rich sequences (2) 11-60 bp, restriction sites
(3) 1-6 bp, restriction sites (4) 11-60 bp, ribonucleotides
Q.50 Mark the correct match
(1) Intron – VNTR (2) SSR – 11-60 bp
(3) VNTR – Microsatellite (4) Mini satellite – Exon
Ans. Q.41 (2), Q.42 (2), Q.43 (3), Q.44 (1), Q.45 (2), Q.46 (1), Q.47 (4), Q.48 (3), Q.49 (2),
Q.50 (1)

Methodology of DNA fingerprinting

 The Southern Blot is one way to analyze the genetic patterns which appear in a person's DNA.
It was devised by E.M.Southern (1975) for separating DNA fragments. Performing a
Southern Blot involves:
1. Isolating the desired DNA. It can be done either chemically, by using a detergent to wash the
extra material from the DNA, or mechanically, by applying a large amount of pressure in order
to "squeeze out" the DNA.
2. Cutting the DNA into several pieces of different size. This is done using one or more
restriction enzymes.
3. Sorting the DNA pieces by size. The process by which the size separation is done is called gel
electrophoresis. The DNA is poured into a gel, such as agarose, and an electrical charge is
applied to the gel, with the positive charge at the bottom and the negative charge at the top.
Because DNA has a slightly negative charge, the pieces of DNA will be attracted towards the
bottom of the gel. The smaller pieces, however, will be able to move more quickly and thus,
further towards the bottom than the larger pieces. The different-sized pieces of DNA will
therefore, be separated by size, with the smaller pieces-towards the bottom and the larger
pieces towards the top.
4. Denaturing the DNA fragments, so that all of the DNA is rendered single-stranded. This can
be done either by heating or chemically treating the DNA in the gel using alkali.
5. Blotting the DNA. The gel with the size-fractionated. DNA is applied to a sheet of
nitrocellulose paper or nylon membrane, and then baked to permanently attach the DNA to
the sheet. The Southern Blot is now ready to be analyzed.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 36

 The DNA fingerprinting process

In order to analyze a Southern Blot, a radioactive genetic probe is used in a hybridization

reaction with the DNA in question. If an X-ray is taken of the Southern Blot after a radioactive
probe has been allowed to bound with the denatured DNA on the paper, only the areas where
the radioactive probe binds will Show themselves on the film (autoradiography). This allows
researchers to identify, in a particular person's DNA, the occurrence and frequency of the
particular genetic pattern contained in the probe.

Practical Applications of DNA Fingerprinting

1. Solving Cases of Disputed Paternity and Maternity: Because a person inherits his or her
VNTRs from his or her parents, VNTR patterns can be used to establish paternity and
maternity.
2. Criminal Identification and Forensics: DNA isolated from blood, hair, skin cells, or other
genetic evidence left at the scene of a crime can be compared, through VNTR patterns, with
the DNA of a criminal suspect to determine guilt or innocence.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 37

 3. Personal Identification : The notion of using DNA fingerprints as a sort of genetic bar code to
identify individuals has been discussed, but this is not likely to happen anytime in the near
future. The technology required to isolate, keep on file, and then analyze millions of very
specified VNTR patterns is both expensive and impractical.

Conceptual Questions
Fill in the blanks :
1. Translocation in eukaryotes is performed by ____ factor which is ____ dependent.
2. In prokaryotes, the regulation of gene expression is mainly performed at ____ level.
3. In DNA fingerprinting technique, denaturation step is followed after technique.
4. ____ sequences are the basis of DNA fingerprinting.
True or False :
5. Promoter for inhibition gene and structural genes in lac-operon is common.

Ans. 1. eEF2, GTP; 2. Transcriptional, 3. Gel Electrophoresis, 4. VNTR, 5. False

GENOMICS
 Application of DNA sequencing and genome mapping to the study, design and manufacture of
biologically important molecules is known as genomics.
 It is comparatively more recent branch in the field of biology.
 The term genomics was introduced by Thomas Roderick.
 In genomics, function of gene is identified by using the technique of reverse genetics.
 Genomics study may be classified into three classes:
(i) Structural genomics : It involves mapping and sequencing of genes.
(ii) Functional genomics : It involves the identification of function of a particular gene.
(iii) Application genomics : It involves use of genomics information for crop improvement
etc.
 Complete genomics of Arabidopsis and rice have been worked out and they are having 130 and
430 million base pairs respectively.

Human Genome Project (HGP)

 The Human genome project was the international, collaborative research program whose goal
was the complete mapping and understanding of all the genes of human beings.
 All genes together are known as "genome".
 The Human Genome Project as "Mega project" was a 13 year project co-ordinated by the
U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health.
 An International Human Genome project was launched in the year 1990 and completed in
2003.
 The International Human Genome sequencing consortium published the first draft of the
human genome in the journal Nature in February 2001 .

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 38

  Human genome is said to have approximately 3 × 109 bp, and the cost of sequencing required
is US$ 3 per bp. The total estimated cost of the project would be approximately 9 billion US
dollars. In human genome 20,000 to 25,000 genes are present, out of them smallest gene is
TDF gene with 14 bp and largest gene is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy gene with 2400 ×
103 bp.
Organisms and the number of bp and genes in them
Organism Base pairs No. of genes
1. E. coli 4.7 million 4,000
2. Saccharomyces cerevisiae 12 million 6,000
3. Coenorhabditis elegans 97 million 18,000
4. Drosophila melanogaster 180 million 13,000

Goals of HGP
 Following are the important goals of HGP :
(i) Identication of all the approximately 20,000 -25,000 genes in human DNA.
(ii) To determine the sequence of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA.
(iii) To store this information in databases.
(iv) To improve tools for data analysis.
(v) Transfer related technologies to other sectors, such as industries.
(vi) Bioinformatics, i.e., close association of HGP with the rapid development of a new area in
biology.
(vii) Sequencing of model organisms -Complete genome sequence of E.coli, Saccharomyces
cerevisiae, Coenorhabditis elegans; Drosophila melanogaster, D. pseudoobscura, Oryza
sativa and Arabidopsis was achieved in April, 2003.
(viii) Adress the ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project.

Concept Builder
Key Definitions :
1. cDNA: It stands for complementary DNA, a synthetic type of DNA generated from mRNA.
By using mRNA as template, scientists use enzymatic reactions to convert its information back
into cDNA and then clone it as cDNA library. These libraries are important to scientists
because they consist of clones of all protein -encoding DNA or all the genes in the human
genome.
2. Mb : Mb stands for megabase, a unit of length equal to 1 million base pairs and roughly equal
to 1cM. (1cM = 1 million bp)
3. Microarray: Microarrays are devices used in many types of large scale genetic analysis. They
can be used to study how large number of genes are expressed as messenger RNA in a
particular tissue and how a cell's regulatory network control vast batteries of genes
simultaneously.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 39

Methodologies
The HGP techniques include:
(i) Sequence tagged site: It is a short DNA segment that occurs only once in a genome and
whose exact location and order of bases is known. STSs serve as landmarks on the physical
map of a genome. It is also called as Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). The genes that are
expressed as RNA are referred to as ESTs.
(ii) Sequencing the whole set of genome that contained all the coding and non-coding sequences,
and later assigning different regions in the sequence with functions, known as Sequence
Annotation.
(iii) The Employment of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP)
(iv) Yeast Artificial Chromosomes (YACs)
(v) Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs)
(vi) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
(vii) Electrophoresis
 For sequencing, the total DNA from a cell is isolated and converted into random fragments of
relatively smaller sizes (recall DNA is a very long polymer, and there are technical limitations
in sequencin very long pieces DNA) and cloned in suitable host using specialised vectors.
 The cloning resulted into amplification of each piece of DNA fragment so that it subsequently
could be sequenced with ease.
 The commonly used hosts were bacteria and yeast, and the vectors were called as BAC
(bacterial artificial chromosomes), and YAC (yeast artificial chromosomes).
 The fragments were sequenced using automated
DNA sequencers that worked on the principle of a
method developed by Frederick Sanger. These
sequences were then arranged based on some
overlapping regions present in them. This required
generation of overlapping fragments for
sequencing. Alignment of these sequences was
humanly not possible. Therefore, specialised
computer based programs were developed. These
sequences were subsequently annotated and were
assigned to each chromosome. The sequence of
chromosome 1 was completed only in May 2006 (this was the last of the 24 human
chromosomes -22 autosomes and X and Y -to be sequenced).

Salient Features of Human Genome

 Some of the salient observations drawn from human genome project are as follows :
(i) The human genome contains 3164.7 million nucleotide bases.
(ii) The average gene consists of 3000 bases, but sizes vary greatly, with the largest known human
gene being dystrophin at 2.4 million bases.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 40

 (iii) The total number of genes is estimated at 30,000-much lower than previous estimates of
80,000 to 1,40,000 genes. Almost all (99.9 percent) nucleotide bases are exactly the same in all
people.
(iv) The functions are unknown for over 50 per cent of discovered genes.
(v) Less than 2 percent of the genome codes for proteins.
(vi) Repeated sequences make up very large portion of the human genome.
(vii) Repetitive sequences are stretches of DNA sequences that are repeated many times, sometimes
hundred to thousand times. They are thought to have no direct coding functions, but they shed
light on chromosome structure, dynamics and evolution.
(viii) Chromosome 1 has most genes (2968), and the Y has the fewest (231).
(ix) Scientists have identified about 1.4 million locations where single-base DNA differences
(SNPs -single nucleotide polymorphism, pronounced as 'snips') occur in humans. This
information promises to revolutionise the processes of finding chromosomal locations for
disease-associated sequences and tracing numan history.
Classes of DNA sequences found in Human Genome
Class Frequency Description
1 Introns 24% Non-coding DNA that comprises the
great majority of each human gene
2 Protein encoding genes (exons) < 2% Transcribed portion of the 30,000 genes
scattered about the chromosomes
3 Structural DNA 20% Constitutive heterochromatin, localised
near centromeres and telomres

Future Thrust of Human Genome Project

 Francis Collins, director of the public funded genome project predicts the following progress
in the next thirty years:
By 2010
1. Scientists will have developed accurate predictive tests for atleast a dozen common diseases so
that preventive measures may be taken in advance.
2. Infertility specialists will be using the sophisticated techniques of pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis to screen embryos for genetic disorders and designer babies.
3. Medicines will be making use of gene therapy.
By 2020
1. Doctors will have "designer drugs" to treat almost every disease.
2. Doctors will test patient's genetic make-up before prescribing drugs.
3. Doctors could change the genetic make-up of a living person by germ-line therapy.
4. Treatment of diseases like cancer, schizophrenia, depression etc. will have transformed.
By 2030
1. Genetic-based health care will have completely developed.
2. Most medical researches will be carried out using computer models rather than living tissues of
animals.
3. Average life-span will rise up to 90 years.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 41

The Indian Scenario
 The Indian gene centre accounts for 160 species out of 2400 species in all of the 12 megagene
centres.
 Though the plant genetic resources activities got intensified in India in the first half of the
century, but received the required impetus after creation of NBPGR in 1976 which has
headquarters at IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute), New Delhi and several regional
sub centres at different agroclimatic zones like Jodhpur (Arid areas), Trichur (Humid Tropical
Zone), Shillong (Eastern sub tropical/subtemperate zone) etc.
 As on 31 st March 1996, NBPGR holds 15,4,533 accessions of various agri-horticultural crops.
 National Facility for Plant Tissue Culture Repository (NFPTCR) was established in 1986 by
department of biotechnology at NBPGR for conservation of germplasm of vegetatively
propagated plants.

Self Assessment

Q.51 During DNA fingerprinting, separation of DNA fragments is done by

(1) Autoradiography (2) Hybridisation (3) Denaturation (4) Electrophoresis
Q.52 Sequencing the whole set of genome that contained all the coding and non-coding sequences
and later assigning different regions in the sequence with functions is known as
(1) Sequence annotation (2) PCR
(3) Northern blot (4) Microarray
Q.53 The last step of DNA fingerprinting is
(1) Blotting (2) Autoradiography
(3) Hybridisation (4) Isolation of desired DNA
Q.54 DNA fingerprinting can be used
(1) To solve cases of disputed paternity and maternity
(2) For criminal identification and forensics
(3) For personal identification
(4) More than one option is correct
Q.55 Human genome is said to have approximately
(1) 3 × 109 bp (2) 3 × 106 bp (3) 6.6 × 106 bp (4) 3.3 × 106 bp
Q.56 How many total number of genes are found in human genome?
(1) 18,000 (2) 30,000 (3) 13,000 (4) 4,000
Q.57 _________ % of the genome codes for protein in human beings.
(1) 98% (2) 50% (3) 24% (4) < 2%
Q.58 In humans, the largest gene is present on
(1) Chromosome-1 (2) Y-chromosome (3) X-chromosome (4) Chromosome-7
Q.59 TDF gene is the smallest gene in humans with
(1) 231 bp (2) 14 bp (3) 2968 bp (4) 3000 bp

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 42

Q.60 SNPs stands for
(1) Single nucleoside polymorphism (2) Simple nucleotide polymorphism
(3) Single nucleotide polymorphism (4) Simple nucleoside polymorphism
Ans. Q.51 (4), Q.52 (1), Q.53 (2), Q.54 (4), Q.55 (1), Q.56 (2), Q.57 (4), Q.58 (3), Q.59 (2),
Q.60 (3)

Concept Builder
1. In translation, ribosomes are often found in clusters linked together by a strand of mRNA. This
complex (polyribosome or polysome) enables several molecules of the same polypeptide to
be produced simultaneously.
2. In vitro synthesis of gene was made by Hargobind Khorana (1968). He was able to link 77
nucleotide base pairs to code for yeast tRNAalanine. Later on in 1976, he synthesized a
functional gene by linking 207 base pairs to code for E.coli. tRNA tyrosine.
3. Jumping genes (Transposon or Transposable element) discovered by Babara McClintock
in maize can change their position within or between two chromosomes.
4. In some viruses a part of genetic material function for two or more genes (cistrons). Such
genes are called overlapping genes. They were discovered by Borrel in  × 174.
5. Transgenosis is the transmission of genetic information to plant cells by bacteriophage or
phenomenon of transfer, gene maintenance, transcription and function.
6. Siblings (also sibship or sibs) : Individuals having the same parents; brother-sister relationship.
7. Genetic marker. A gene mutation that has phenotypic effects useful for tracing the
chromosome on which it is located.
8. Phenocopy: An individual who has a phenotype similar to that produced by a certain mutant
genotype, even though the individual may not have that genotype.
9. Charles Weismann isolated the gene (cDNA) for interferon from human lymphocytes and
cloned it in E. coli and yeast.
10. Some Other Important Contributions of Scientists
(i) Zacharis - Called nuclein as DNA and proved that chromatin is rich in DNA
(ii) Fuelgen - DNA is located in nucleus where chromosomes are found, nucleus is
fuelgen positive
(iii) Behrem - Nucleic acid is of two types DNA and RNA.
(iv) Fischer - Identified purines and pyrimidines in nucleic acid.
(v) Levene - Studied chemistry of DNA and found that DNA has deoxyribose sugar
and four types of nucleotides.
(vi) Sanger - Determined base sequence in nucleic acid.
(vii) Hedges and Jacob -Term "transposon"

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 43

 Summary
1. Nucleotide monomers constitutes a polymer called nucleic acid. It is of two types RNA and
DNA.
2. While DNA is store house of information, RNA helps in transfer and expression of
information .
3. As DNA is structurally and chemically more stable, it is better genetic material. Although both
DNA and RNA serves as genetic material.
4. RNA was first to evolve, and DNA was derived from it.
5. Bases in two DNA strands show hydrogen bonding (A = T, G  C) and follow Chargaff's
rule, so that both the strands are complementary and its replication is semi-conservative.
6. Segment of DNA that codes for an RNA is known as gene. During transcription, one DNA
strand acts as template which directs the synthesis of complementary RNA.
7. In prokaryotes, transcription and translation is a continuous process. In eukaryotes, the genes
are split exons are interupted by introns. Introns are removed and exons are joined, to
produce functional RNA.
8. The mRNA contains genetic code In combination of three (triplet code) to code for an amino
acid. This genetic code is read by t-RNA which act as an adapter molecule.
9. There is specific t-RNA for each amino acid. Each t-RNA binds to amino acid at one end and
with codons by H-bonding at another end.
10. Translation occurs at ribosome, here ribozyme (rRNA enzyme) acts as catalyst which helps in
peptide bond formation. Process of translation has evolved around RNA, which shows that life
began around RNA.
11. Since transcription and translation are energetically very expensive; they are tightly regulated,
e.g., lac operon which is regulated by amount of lactose in medium, i.e., regulation of enzyme
synthesis by its substrate.
12. Human genome project is aimed for sequencing every base in human genome. DNA finger
printing is used for this which is based upon principle of polymorphism in DNA sequence.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 44

 EXERCISE – 1

Section -A
Q.1 The strongest evidence in favour of DNA as genetic material comes from
(1) Griffith effect (2) Conjugation
(3) Taylor's experiment (4) Cairn's effect
Q.2 Molecular explanation for transformation was given by
(1) Griffith (2) Avery, McCarty and Macleod
(3) lederberg and Tatum (4) Avery and McCarty
Q.3 Radioactive element used to label DNA of bacteriophage in Wareing-Blender experiment of
Hershey and Chase was
(1) S35 (2) P32 (3) N15 (4) C14
Q.4 Transforming principle in Griffith's experiments explains
(1) Certain rules for auxenic culture of bacteria
(2) Ingredients of culture medium
(3) Chemical substance released by S type
(4) Chemical substance released by R type
Q.5 Some viruses do not have DNA. This suggests that
(1) They are non-infective viruses (2) RNA is the genetic material in these viruses
(3) DNA is not the genetic material (4) RNA is a self replicating molecule
Q.6 RNA as genetic material in plant viruses was shown by
(1) Hershey and Chase (2) Fraenkal Conrat
(3) F. Griffith (4) Lederberg and Tatum
Q.7 Largest biomolecule in the cell which shows autocatalytic and heterocatalytic functions is
(1) Protein (2) RNA (3) DNA (4) Carbohydrate
Q.8 Who gave 3 'D' model of B-DNA?
(1) Watson and Crick (2) Wilkins and Franklin
(3) F. Meischer (4) Zacharis
Q.9 Bonding between deoxyribose and base in pyrimidine nucleoside molecule is
(1) 1'-1 glycosidic linkage (2) 1'-6 glycosidic linkage
(3) 1'-9 glycosidic linkage (4) 1'-4 glycosidic linkage
Q.10 According to Chargaff rule, A + T / G + C value in E. coli and human beings respectively
(1) 1.52 and 0.93 (2) 0.93 and 1.52 (3) 0.66 and 1 (4) Always unit in both
Q.11 Number of base pairs in one turn of B-DNA and Z -DNA is respectively
(1) 9 and 11 (2) 10 and 11 (3) 10 and 12 (4) 8 and 9
Q.12 The total amount of DNA present in the haploid genome of an organism is called its
(1) C-value (2) Phenotype (3) Genotype (4) Karyotype
Q.13 Tm (melting temperature) value of DNA is high when it contains
(1) A + T > G + C (2) G + C > A + T (3) A + T = G + C (4) A + G = T + C

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 45

Q.14 Select an incorrect statement regarding RNA molecule
(1) It has highly reactive 2'-OH group (2) It shows high rate of mutation than DNA
(3) It is genetic material in some viruses (4) It follows Chargaff rule
Q.15 The distance covered by a complete turn of the DNA double helix is
(1) 3.4 A (2) 34 A (3) 3.6 A (4) 36 A
Q.16 The ratio of bases which confirms Chargaff's rule is/are
(1) A + G = T + C (2) G + T =A + C (3) A + T =G + C (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.17 The terms cistron, recon and muton were proposed by
(1) W. Ingram (2) Bateson (3) J. Lederberg (4) S. Benzer
Q.18 The modern concept of gene is that it is
(1) A segment of DNA capable of crossing over
(2) A functional unit of DNA
(3) A segment of DNA
(4) A segment of chromosome
Q.19 DNA replication is
(1) Semiconservative (2) Semidiscontinuous
(3) Conservative and discontinuous (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.20 Semiconservative mode of DNA replication was experimentally proved in prokaryotes by
(1) Meselson and Stahl (2) Taylor
(3) Jacob and Monod (4) A Kornberg
Q.21 In Meselson and Stahl's experiment, heavy isotope 15N was used in the form of
(1) 15NaNO3 (2) 15NH4Cl (3) 15KNO3 (4) 15NH4NO3
Q.22 If a hybrid DNA molecule labelled with 15N is allowed to replicate twice in normal culture
medium, the percentage of hybrid DNA after second replication will be
(1) 50% (2) 12.5% (3) 25% (4) 75%
15
Q.23 Assuming that 50 heavy (i.e. containing N ) DNA molecules replicated twice in a medium
containing N14, we expect
(1) 100 half and 150 light DNA molecules
(2) 100 half heavy and half light and 100 light DNA molecules
(3) 50 heavy and 150 light DNA molecules
(4) 50 heavy and 100 light DNA molecules
Q.24 Semi-conservative nature of the replication of eukaryotic chromosome was experimentally
demonstrated by
(1) Cairns (2) Meselson and Stahl
(3) Taylor (4) Hershey and Chase
Q.25 Which statement is correct for bacterial replication?
(1) Has single ori (2) Bidirectional
(3) Many ori and bidirectional (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.26 Prokaryotic topoisomerase is
(1) Helicase (2) Primase (3) DNA polymerase (4) DNA gyrase

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 46

Q.27 Kornberg enzyme is known as
(1) DNA polymerase I (2) DNA polymerase II
(3) DNA polymerase III (4) RNA polymerase
Q.28 The enzyme which has polymerising activity in 5'3' direction but exonuclease activity in
3'5' direction only is
(1) RNA polymerase III (2) DNA polymerase II
(3) DNA polymerase I (4) All of these
Q.29 New strands of DNA are formed only in
(1) 5'3' direction (2) 3'5' direction
(3) In both directions (4) There is no specific polarity
Q.30 Okazaki fragments are formed by one of the strand of DNA, known as
(1) Leading strand (2) Lagging strand
(3) Continuous strand (4) Semi-discontinuous strand
Q.31 DNA polymerase I is involved in
(1) Removal of RNA primer (2) Filling of gap
(3) Joining of okazaki fragments (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.32 DNA replication in lagging strand of most of the eukaryotic organisms is
(1) Conservative and continuous (2) Semi-conservative but discontinuous
(3) Conservative and semi-discontinuous (4) Semi-conservative but continuous
Q.33 In eukaryotes, DNA synthesis on leading strand is catalysed by
(1) DNA polymerase  (2) DNA polymerase 
(3) DNA polymerase  (4) DNA polymerase 
Q.34 Wild type of Neurospora crassa which can synthesize all essential metabolites from raw
materials is called
(1) Auxotroph (2) Autotroph (3) Prototroph (4) Saprotroph
Q.35 Find the incorrect matching
(1) One gene-one enzyme - Beadle and Tatum
(2) One gene-one polypeptide - Yanofsky
(3) One gene-one character - de Vries
(4) One mRNA-one polypeptide - Monad
Q.36 Unidirectional flow of information called central dogma was given by
(1) F.H.C. Crick (2) Temin (3) Baltimore (4) Dulbecco
Q.37 Synthesis of DNA on RNA template was first observed in
(1) Rice Dwart Virus (2) Wound Tumour Virus
(3) Rous Sarcoma Virus (4) E. coli
Q.38 Reverse transcriptase is
(1) RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (2) RNA-dependent DNA polymerase
(3) DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (4) DNA-dependent DNA polymerase
Q.39 The segment of master strand of DNA involved in transcription is called
(1) Sense strand (2) Cistron (3) Recon (4) Muton

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 47

Q.40 In eukaryotes, RNAPIII catalyses the synthesis of
(1) All rRNA and tRNA (2) mRNA, HnRNA and SnRNA
(3) 5S rRNA, tRNA and SnRNA (4) 28S,18S and 5S rRNA
Q.41 Find incorrect match (w.r.t. transcription by RNAP)
(1) Core enzyme - 2 (2) Catalytic centre - 1
(3) Pribnow box - 4 bp recognition site (4)  (rho) factor - ATP dependent
Q.42 DNA generally acts as a template for the synthesis of
(1) Only protein (2) Only DNA (3) Only RNA (4) Both DNA & RNA
Q.43 The core enzyme requires a factor for termination of RNA synthesis at some sites. This is
known as
(1) Sigma factor (2) Rho factor (3) Gamma factor (4) Alpha particle
Q.44 In which of the following organism mRNA has introns?
(1) Nostoe (2) Rhizobium (3) Chlamydomonas (4) Mycoplasma
Q.45 If one strand of DNA has the base sequence ATCCACGACTAG and the second strand
undergoes transcription, what would be the base sequence on mRNA?
(1) TACGTGCTGATC (2) ATCCACGACTAG
(3) AUCCACGACUAG (4) AUGCACGACTAG
Q.46 During protein synthesis, amino acid gets attached to tRNA with the help of
(1) mRNA (2) Aminoacyl synthetase
(3) Ribosome (4) rRNA
Q.47 The first amino acid in any polypeptide chain of prokaryote is always
(1) Formylated methionine (2) Formylated arginine
(3) Lysine (4) Methionine
Q.48 Considering that we have four nucleotides A, G, C and T. the number of base substitutions that
can occur in the amino acid codons are
(1) 549 (2) 564 (3) 281 (4) 256
Q.49 Termination of chain growth in protein synthesis is brought about by
(1) UUG, UGC, UCA (2) UCG, GCG, ACC
(3) UAA, UAG, UGA (4) UUG, UAG, UCG
Q.50 In protein synthesis, the codon used as a start signals is
(1) AUG (2) UGA (3) GUA (4) UAG, UAA
Q.51 The translation step in the process of protein synthesis, in which the conversion of the language
of nucleic acid into that of proteins, is made by a charged form of
(1) mRNA (2) tRNA (3) rRNA (4) Template DNA
Q.52 Which site of a tRNA molecule forms hydrogen bonds with mRNA molecule?
(1) Codon (2) Anticodon
(3) 5' end of the t-RNA molecule (4) 3' end of the t-RNA molecule
Q.53 In eukaryotes, initiation of polypeptide chain in protein synthesis is induced by
(1) Methionine (2) Glycine (3) Leucine (4) Lysine

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 48

Q.54 The function of a non-sense codon is
(1) To release polypeptide chain from t-RNA
(2) To form an unspecified amino acid
(3) To terminate the message of gene controlling protein synthesis
(4) To convert a sense DNA into non-sense DNA
Q.55 When the codon of mRNA is 5'·GUC-3' then the anticodon on tRNA will be
(1) 5'-CAG-3' (2) 3'-CAG-5' (3) 3' -CUG-5' (4) 3'-GAC-5'
Q.56 To code the 50 aminoacids in a polypeptide chain, what will be the minimum number of
nucleotides in its cistron?
(1) 50 (2) 153 (3) 306 (4) 300
Q.57 An antibiotic which inhibits translation in eukaryotes is
(1) Chloromycetin (2) Penicillin (3) Puromycin (4) Tetracycline
Q.58 Find the correct match
Column I Column II
a. Non-degenerate codon (i) GUG
b. Ambiguous codon (ii) UAG
c. Amber (iii) UGG
d. Ochre (iv) UGA
(v) UAA
(1) a(iii), b(i), c(ii), d(v) (2) a(i), b(ii), c(v), d(iii)
(3) a(iii), b(i), c(iv), d(v) (4) a(iii), b(i), c(v), d(ii)
Q.59 Triplet nature of genetic code was theoretically proposed by
(1) Nirenberg (2) Hoagland (3) Gamow (4) Khorana
Q.60 Deciphering of genetic code was done by
(1) Nirenberg and Matthaei (2) Holley and Komberg
(3) F.H.C. Crick (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.61 Genetic code consists of
(1) Adenine and guanine (2) Guanine and cytosine
(3) Cytosine and uracil (4) All of these
Q.62 A single anticodon can recognize more than one codon of m-RNA. This phenomenon is termed
as
(1) Richmond and Lang effect (2) Gene flow hypothesis
(3) Wobble hypothesis (4) Transposability
Q.63 The term genetic code was given by
(1) Watson and Crick (2) Gamow (3) Beadle and Tatum (4) Yanofsky
Q.64 The genetic code is called a degenerate code because
(1) One codon has many meanings
(2) More than one codon has the same meaning
(3) One codon has one meaning
(4) There are 64 codons present

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 49

Q.65 Genetic code determines
(1) Structural pattem of organism (2) The sequence of amino acid in a protein
(3) The number and variation of offspring (4) Constancy of morphological traits
Q.66 Khorana synthesized a biologically functional tyrosine t-RNA of E.coli in 1979. It contained
(1) 77 nucleotide pairs (2) 207 nucleotide pairs
(3) 312 nucleotide pairs (4) 333 nucleotides only
Q.67 There are 64 codons in genetic code dictionary because
(1) There are 64 types of tRNAs found in the cell
(2) There are 44 meaningless and 20 codons for amino acids
(3) There are 64 amino acids to be coded
(4) Genetic code is triplet
Q.68 According to Operon concept, the regulatory gene regulates biochemical reaction in a cell by
(1) Inhibiting transcription (2) Inactivating enzymes
(3) Inactivating substrate (4) Inhibiting migration of mRNA
Q.69 Which statement is correct for negative operon?
(1) Co-repressor binds with inducer
(2) Co·repressor binds with repressor
(3) Co-repressor does ·not bind with repressor
(4) cAMP shows negative effect
Q.70 In E.coli, according to the lac operon theory, an operator gene combines with
(1) Inducer gene to 'switch on' structural gene transcription
(2) Regulator gene to 'switch on' structural gene transcription
(3) Regulatory protein to "switch off" structural gene transcription
(4) Regulator protein to "switch on" structural gene transcription.

Section -B
Q.1 In an operon, the RNA polymerase binds to
(1) Regulator (2) Promoter gene (3) Operator gene (4) Constitutive gene
Q.2 Find the correct match
Column I Column II
a. House keeping genes (i) Histone gene
b. Luxury genes (ii) sn RNA genes
c. Repeated genes (iii) ATPase gene
d. Pseudogenes (iv) Nitrate reductase gene
(1) a(i), b(ii), c(iii), d(iv) (2) a(iii), b(iv), c(ii), d(i)
(3) a(iii), b(iv), c(i), d(ii) (4) a(iii), b(ii), c(i), d(iv)
Q.3 How many types of genes are identified for cancerous transformation after mutation?
(1) One (2) Three (3) Four (4) Two

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 50

Q.4 Covalently closed circular chromosome is
(1) Nucleosome (2) Viral chromosome
(3) Eukaryotic chromosome (4) Bacterial chromosome
Q.5 Idiochromosomes are
(1) Somatic chromosomes (2) Autosomes
(3) Prochromosomes (4) Heterosomes
Q.6 Non-histone chromosomal protein which forms core or axis of chromosome is
(1) HMG protein (2) Scaffold protein
(3) Regulatory protein (4) All of these
Q.7 Which statement is incorrect for asymmetric karyotype?
(1) Large difference between smallest and largest chromosome
(2) Small difference between smallest and largest chromosome
(3) It is advance type
(4) It is associated with zygomorphic flower
Q.8 Number of base pairs in DNA helix around the octamer histone molecule is
(1) 140 - 200 bp (2) 100 - 150 bp (3) 40 - 67 bp (4) 200 - 260 bp
Q.9 nu body of nucleosome consists of
(1) H1 and H2A (2) H2A and H2B (3) H3 and H4 (4) Both (2) & (3)
Q.10 Super solenoid model of nucleosome has
(1) 10-15 nm diameter (2) 100-125 nm diameter
(3) 300-700 A diameter (4) 300-700 nm diameter
Q.11 Which one of the following is used as marker chromosome?
(1) Monocentric chromosome (2) SAT-chromosome
(3) Idiosome (4) L-chromosome
Q.12 The Human Genome Project as megaproject was a 13 year project coordinated by the
(1) U.S. Department of Energy (2) National Institute of Health
(3) U.S. Department of Molecular Biology (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.13 Sequencing of model organism like Caenorhabditis elegans was achieved in April, 2003 with
(1) 97 mbp (2) 3 × 109 bp (3) 18 × 105 bp (4) 12 mbp
Q.14 Percentage of protein encoding genes and transposable elements in Human genome are
respectively.
(1) 76% and 3% (2) 1 % and 45% (3) 20% and 24% (4) 3% and 1%
Q.15 SNP which is pronounced as "snips" stands for
(1) Small nuclear protein (2) Single nucleotide particle
(3) Single nucleotide polymorphism (4) Small nicking points
Q.16 HGP methodology which includes identification of all the genes that expressed as RNA is
referred as
(1) RFLP (2) ESTs (3) VNTR (4) RAPD's
Q.17 Largest human gene is located on _____ chromosome and having ___.
(1) X, 2.4 million bases (2) Y, 2400 × 103 bp
(3) 12, 24 × 105 bp (4) X, 2400 mbp

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 51

Q.18 The last human chromosome which sequence was completed in May 2006 is
(1) Chromosome 22 (2) Chromosome 14 (3) Chromosome 1 (4) Chromosome X and Y
Q.19 Sequencing the whole set of genome that contains all the coding and non coding parts is
(1) Expressed Sequence Tags (2) Sequence Annotation
(3) Microarray (4) Electrophoresis
Q.20 Father of DNA fingerprinting is
(1) Alec Jeffreys (2) Lalji Singh (3) V.K. Kashyap (4) E.M. Southern
Q.21 Find the incorrect match
(1) VNTR - 11-60 bp (2) SSR - 15-20 bp
(3) Southern blotting - Nitrocellulose paper (4) Western blotting - Protein
Q.22 Separation of DNA fragments into bands by electrophoresis is done on
(1) Agarose gel (2) Polyacrylamide gel
(3) Aminobenzyloxymelhyl gel (4) Both (1) & (2)
Q.23 Blotting technique involves transfer of DNA from
(1) Membrane to gel (2) Gel to membrane (3) Sol to gel (4) Gel to sol
Q.24 Western Blot hybridization is used for
(1) DNA analysis (2) RNA analysis (3) Protein analysis (4) Polysaccharide analysis
Q.25 In gel-electrophoresis, all the DNA fragments move towards the base of the gel with variable
velocities because
(1) DNA is positively charged
(2) DNA is slightly negatively charged
(3) DNA fragments have different molecular weights
(4) Both (2) & (3)
Q.26 What are the mini-satellites?
(1) r-DNA (2) VNTR (3) c-DNA (4) SAT
Q.27 When bands of RNA are transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane for identification, the
blotting is called
(1) Southern Blotting (2) Northem Blotting (3) Western Blotting (4) Eastern Blotting
Q.28 International Human Genome Project began in
(1) 1990 (2) 1996 (3) 2000 (4) 2001
Q.29 Complete genome of which non-crop and crop plants has been sequenced?
(1) Datura and wheat respectively (2) Arabidopsis and maize respectively
(3) Oenothera and oat respectively (4) Arabidopsis and rice respectively
Q.30 According to Human Genome Project, the percentage of introns in human genome is
approximately
(1) 10% (2) 24% (3) 75% (4) 99%
Q.31 Find the incorrect statement:
(1) N-glycosidic linkage between nitrogenous base and sugar forms a nucleotide.
(2) 5-methyl uracil is present in DNA
(3) In RNA, every nucleotide residue has additional –OH group
(4) The ratio of A + T/G + C is variable

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 52

Q.32 The packaging of DNA at higher level requires
(1) Five types of histones (2) A histone octamer called nu body
(3) Non-histone chromosomal proteins (4) Lysine and Arginine
Q.33 Which of the following statement is not applicable for DNA replication?
(1) Tension is released bytopoisomerase
(2) In eukaryotes DNA polymerases are of 5 types
(3) DNA polymerase-III is the true replicase
(4) The 3'5' exonuclease activity is not present in DNA polymerase-III
Q.34 Match the column-I with column-II.
Column I Column II
a. RNA (i) Translational efficiency
b. UTR (ii) Smallest molecule
c. SD-sequence (iii) Learning and memory
d. tRNA (iv) Purine rich
(1) a(ii), b(iii), c(i), d(iv) (2) a(iii), b(ii), c(iv), d(i)
(3) a(iii), b(i), c(iv), d(ii) (4) a(iii), b(iv), c(i), d(ii)
Q.35 Select the correct statement from the following:
(1) Guanyl transferase catalyses polyadenylation
(2) Polycistronic mRNA carries codons of single protein molecule
(3) In bacteria translation begins much before mRNA is fully transcribed
(4) All exons have GU at 5' end and AG at 3' end
Q.36 Wobbling helps to maintain economy in number of tRNA molecules because
(1) Genetic code is unambiguous and specific
(2) tRNA contains anticodons
(3) First two bases in the codon are specific
(4) Genetic message is read in open frame
Q.37 When apo-repressor binds with co-repressor in tryptophan operon
(1) Operator gene is 'switched on'
(2) A complete repressor is formed
(3) Structural genes become functional to produce polycistronic mRNA
(4) Luxury genes are switched on
Q.38 Homeodomain proteins
(1) Convert one body part into another (2) Have tumor forming property
(3) Are produced by non-coding genes (4) Control gene regulation in prokaryotes
Q.39 Select the incorrect statement
(1) VNTRs are inherited from parents
(2) VNTRs are also called short tandem repeats
(3) Satellite DNA have repeating base patterns
(4) RAPD's are used for DNA finger printing

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 53

Q.40 In Sequence Annotation
(1) All expressed genes are identified
(2) Sequence that occurs only once in genome are tagged
(3) All coding and non-coding sequence are involved.
(4) Sequencing of genes with exact location and order of known bases

Answer Key

Section–A
Q.1 1 Q.2 2 Q.3 2 Q.4 3 Q.5 2 Q.6 2 Q.7 3
Q.8 1 Q.9 1 Q.10 2 Q.11 3 Q.12 1 Q.13 2 Q.14 4
Q.15 2 Q.16 4 Q.17 4 Q.18 2 Q.19 4 Q.20 1 Q.21 2
Q.22 3 Q.23 2 Q.24 3 Q.25 4 Q.26 4 Q.27 1 Q.28 2
Q.29 1 Q.30 2 Q.31 4 Q.32 2 Q.33 2 Q.34 3 Q.35 4
Q.36 1 Q.37 3 Q.38 2 Q.39 2 Q.40 3 Q.41 3 Q.42 4
Q.43 2 Q.44 3 Q.45 3 Q.46 2 Q.47 1 Q.48 1 Q.49 3
Q.50 1 Q.51 2 Q.52 2 Q.53 1 Q.54 3 Q.55 2 Q.56 3
Q.57 3 Q.58 1 Q.59 3 Q.60 1 Q.61 4 Q.62 3 Q.63 2
Q.64 2 Q.65 2 Q.66 2 Q.67 4 Q.68 1 Q.69 2 Q.70 3

Section–B
Q.1 2 Q.2 3 Q.3 4 Q.4 4 Q.5 4 Q.6 2 Q.7 2
Q.8 1 Q.9 4 Q.10 4 Q.11 2 Q.12 4 Q.13 1 Q.14 2
Q.15 3 Q.16 2 Q.17 1 Q.18 3 Q.19 2 Q.20 1 Q.21 2
Q.22 4 Q.23 2 Q.24 3 Q.25 4 Q.26 2 Q.27 2 Q.28 1
Q.29 4 Q.30 2 Q.31 1 Q.32 3 Q.33 4 Q.34 3 Q.35 3
Q.36 3 Q.37 2 Q.38 1 Q.39 2 Q.40 3

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 54

 EXERCISE – 2 Previous Year's Questions

Q.1 Similarity in DNA and RNA - [AIPMT-2000]

(1) Both are polymer of nucleotides (2) Both have similar pyrimidine
(3) Both have similar sugar (4) Both are genetic material
Q.2 Length of one loop of B-DNA- [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) 3.4 nm. (2) 0.34 nm. (3) 20 nm. (4) 10 nm.
Q.3 ATP is - [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) Nucleotide (2) Nucleoside (3) Nucleic acid (4) Vitamin
Q.4 In three dimensional view the molecule of t-RNA is - [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) L-shaped (2) S-shaped (3) Y-shaped (4) E-shaped
Q.5 Which of the following is initiation codon - [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) UAG (2) AUC (3) AUG (4) CCU
Q.6 Method of DNA replication in which two strands of DNA separates and synthesize new
strands- [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) Dispersive (2) Conservative (3) Semiconservative (4) Non conservative
Q.7 In which stage of cell cycle, DNA replication occurs- [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) G1 - phase (2) S - phase (3) G2 - phase (4) M - phase
Q.8 Extranuclear DNA is found in - [AIPMT - 2000]
(1) Lysosome and chloroplast (2) Chloroplast and mitochondria
(3) Mitochondria and lysosome (4) Golgi body and E.R.
Q.9 Which one of the following triplet codes, is correctly matched with its specificity for an amino
acid in protein synthesis or as start or stop codon - [AIPMT - 2003]
(1) UCG - Start (2) UUU - Stop (3) UGU - Leusine (4) UAC - Tyrosine
Q.10 During translation initiation in prokaryotes, a GTP molecule is needed in - [AIPMT - 2003]
(1) Formation of formyl-met-tRNA
(2) Binding of 30 S subunit of ribosome with mRNA
(3) Association of 30 S-mRNA with formyl-met RNA
(4) Association of 50 S subunit of ribosome with initiation complex
Q.11 In recent years, DNA sequences (nucleotide sequence) of mt-DNA and Y chromosomes were
considered for the study of human evolution because- [AIPMT - 2003]
(1) They are small, and therefore, easy to study
(2) They are uniparental in origin and do not take part in recombination
(3) Their structure is known in great detail
(4) They can be studied from the samples of fossil remains
Q.12 Degeneration of a genetic code is attributed to the - [AIPMT - 2003]
(1) First member of a codon (2) Second member of a codon
(3) Entire codon (4) Third member of a condon

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 55

Q.13 What would happen if in a gene encoding a polypeptide of 50 amino acids, 25th codon (UAU)
is mutated to UAA- [AIPMT - 2003]
(1) A polypeptide of 24 amino acids will be formed
(2) Two polypeptides of 24 and 25 amino acids will be formed
(3) A polypeptides of 49 amino acids will be formed
(4) A polypeptide of 25 amino acids will be formed
Q.14 During transcription, the DNA site at which RNA polymerase binds is called -[AIPMT - 2003]
(1) Promoter (2) Regulator (3) Receptor (4) Enhancer
Q.15 Which of the following structures represents the peptide chain? [AIPMT - 2004]
H O H H
| || | | | | | | | |
(1)  N  C  N  C NH  C  NH  (2)  N  C  C C C N  C C C
|| | | || | | | | | |
O H O
H H H O H O H
| | | | | | || | | | || | | | | | |
(3)  N  C C  N  C C  N  C C  (4)  N  C C C  N  C C N  C  C C
| || | | || | | | | | | | || | |
O O H O
Q.16 Which one of the following is a chain growth polymer ? [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) Starch (2) Nucleic acid (3) Polystyrene (4) Protein
Q.17 The correct statement in respect of protein haemoglobin is that it - [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) functions as a catalyst for biological reactions
(2) maintains blood sugar leval
(3) acts as an oxygen carrier in the blood
(4) forms antibodies and offers resistance to diseases.
Q.18 Number of chiral carbons in -D-(+) - glucose is - [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) five (2) six (3) three (4) four
Q.19 The helical structure of proteins is stabilized by- [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) dipeptide bonds (2) hydrogen bonds (3) ether bonds (4) peptide bonds
Q.20 During transcription, if the nucleotide sequence of the DNA strand that is being coded is
ATACG, then the nucleotide sequence in the mRNA would be - [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) TATGC (2) TCTGG (3) UAUGC (4) UATGC
Q.21 The following ratio is generally constant for a given species - [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) A + G /C + T (2) T + C / G + A (3) G + C /A + T (4) A +C / T + G
Q.22 Which form of RNA has a structure resembling clover leaf ? [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) rRNA (2) hnRNA (3) mRNA (4) tRNA
Q.23 After a mutation at a genetic locus the character of an organism chages due to the change in -
[AIPMT - 2004]
(1) protein structure (2) DNA replication
(3) protein synthesis pattern (4) RNA transcription pattern
Q.24 During replication of a bacterial chromosome DNA synthesis starts from a replication origin
site and - [AIPMT - 2004]
(1) RNA primers are involved (2) is facilitated by telomerase
(3) moves in one direction of the site (4) moves in bi-directional way

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 56

Q.25 A sequence of how many nucleotide in messenger RNA makes a codon for an amino acid ?
[AIPMT - 2004]
(1) Three (2) Four (3) One (4) Two
Q.26 Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched with regard to the codon and the amino
acid coded by it - [AIIMS - 2004]
(1) UUU-Valine (2) AAA-Lysine (3) AUG-Cysteine (4) CCC-Alanine
Q.27 DNA is present in - [AIIMS - 2004]
(1) Chromosomes and dictyosome
(2) Chloroplast and lysosomes
(3) Mitochondria and chloroplasts
(4) Mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum.
Q.28 Which of the following is the simplest amino acid- [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Alanine (2) Asparagine (3) Glycine (4) Tyrosine
Q.29 Enzymes, vitamins and hormones can be classified into a single category of biological
chemicals, because all of these - [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Are exclusively synthesized in the body of a living organism as at present
(2) Enhance oxidative metabolism
(3) Are conjugated proteins
(4) Help in regulating metabolism
Q.30 Which one of the following makes use of RNA as a template to synthesize DNA -
[AIPMT - 2005]
(1) DNA dependant RNA polymerase (2) DNA polymerase
(3) Reverse transcriptase (4) RNA polymerase
Q.31 Nuclotides are building blocks of nucleic acids. Each nucleotide is a composite molecule
formed by - [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Base-sugar-OH (2) Base-sugar-phosphate
(3) Sugar-phosphate (4) Base-sugar-phosphate
Q.32 Protein synthesis in an animal cell occurs- [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) On ribosomes present in cytoplasm as well as in mitochondria
(2) On ribosomes present in the nucleolus as well as in cytoplasm
(3) Only on ribosome attached to the nuclear envelope and endoplasmic reticulam
(4) Only on the ribosomes present in cytosol
Q.33 Which one of the following hydrolyses internal phosphodiester bonds in a polynucleotide
chain- [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Lipase (2) Protease (3) Exonuclease (4) Endonuclease
Q.34 Carbohydrates, the most abundant biomolecules on earth, are produced by- [AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Some bacteria, algae and green plant cells
(2) All bacteria, fungi and algae
(3) Fungi, algae and green plants cells
(4) Viruses, fungi and bacteria

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 57

Q.35 Production of a human protein in bacteria by genetic engineering is possible because
[AIPMT - 2005]
(1) Bacterial cell can carry out the RNA splicing reactions
(2) The mechanism of gene regulation is identical in humans and bacteria
(3) The human chromosome can replicate in bacterial cell
(4) The genetic code is universal
Q.36 During transcription holoenzyme RNA polymerase binds to a DNA sequence and the DNA
assumes a saddle like structure at that point. What is that sequence called- [AIPMT - 2005, 07]
(1) CAAT box (2) GGTT box (3) AAAT box (4) TATA box
Q.37 Which functional group participates in disulphide bond formation in proteins - [AIPMT- 2005]
(1) Thioether (2) Thiol (3) Thioester (4) Thiolactone
Q.38 Bond between phosphate and sugar in a nucleotide is - [RPMT - 2005]
(1) H-bond (2) Covalent bond
(3) Phosphodiester bond (4) Sulphide bond
Q.39 Which of the following is formed in nucleolus - [RPMT - 2005]
(1) r RNA (2) t RNA (3) m-RNA (4) DNA
Q.40 Ribosomes are composed of [RPMT - 2005]
(1) DNA + Protein (2) DNA (3) RNA + Protein (4) RNA + DNA
Q.41 DNA probes are copied from the messenger RNA molecules with the help of - [AIIMS - 2005]
(1) Restriction enzymes (2) Reverse transcriptase
(3) DNA polymerase (4) Adenosine deaminase
Q.42 Which one of the following statement is true for protein synthesis (translation)- [AIIMS -2005]
(1) Amino acids are directly recognized by m-RNA
(2) The third base of the codon is less specific
(3) Only one codon codes for an amino acid
(4) Every t-RNA molecule has more than one amino acid attachment site
Q.43 Which antibiotic inhibits interaction between tRNA and mRNA during bacterial protein
synthesis ? [AIPMT - 2006]
(1) Erthromycin (2) Neomycin (3) Streptomysin (4) Tetracycline
Q.44 Amino acid sequence, in protein synthesis is decided by the sequence of - [AIPMT - 2006]
(1) tRNA (2) mRNA (3) cDNA (4) rRNA
Q.45 One gene-one enzyme hypothesis was postulated by - [AIPMT - 2006]
(1) R.Franklin (2) Hershay and Chase
(3) A.Garrod (4) Beadle and Tatum
Q.46 One turn of the helix in a B-form DNA is approximately - [AIPMT - 2006]
(1) 20 nm (2) 0.34 nm (3) 3.4 nm (4) 2 nm
Q.47 Antiparallel strands of a DNA molecule means that - [AIPMT - 2006]
(1) one strand turns anti-clockwise
(2) the phosphate group of two DNA stands, at their ends, share the same position
(3) the phosphate groups at the start of two DNA stands are in opposite position (pole)
(4) one strand turns clockwise

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 58

Q.48 During protein synthesis in an organism, at one point the process comes to a halt. Select the
group of the three codons from the following from which any one of the three could bring
about this halt- [AIIMS - 2006]
(1) UUU, UCC, UAU (2) UUC, UUA, UAC
(3) UAG, UGA, UAA (4) UUG, UCA, UCG
Q.49 Thymine is - [AIIMS - 2006]
(1) 5-Methyl uracil (2) 4-Methyl uracil (3) 3-Methyl uracil (4) 1-Methyl uracil
Q.50 Molecular basis of organ differentiation depends on the modulation in transcription by
[AIPMT - 2007]
(1) RNA polymerase (2) Ribosome
(3) Transcription factor (4) Anticodon
Q.51 The Okazaki fragments in DNA chain growth - [AIPMT - 2007]
(1) Result in transcription
(2) Polymerize in the 3'' to 5' direction and froms replication fork
(3) Prove semi-conservative nature of DNA replication
(4) Polymerize in the 5' to 3' direction and explain 3' to 5' DNA replication
Q.52 The two polynucleotide chains in DNA are [AIPMT - 2007]
(1) Parallel (2) Discontinuous (3) Antiparallel (4) Semiconservative
Q.53 About 98 percent of the mass of every living organism is composed of just six elements
including carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and- [AIPMT - 2007]
(1) Phosphrous and sulphur (2) Sulphur and magnesium
(3) Magnesium and sodium (4) Calcium and phoshorus
Q.54 A plant requires magnesium for - [AIPMT - 2007]
(1) Holding cells together (2) Protein synthesis
(3) Chlorophyll synthesis (4) Cell wall development
Q.55 Polysome is formed by - [AIPMT - 2008]
(1) A ribosome with several subunits
(2) Ribosomes attached to each other in a linear arrangement
(3) Several ribosomes attached to a single mRNA
(4) Many ribosomes attached to a strand of endoplasmic recticulum
Q.56 Which one of the following pairs of nitrogenous bases of nucleic acids, is wrongly matched
with the category mentioned against it ? [AIPMT - 2008]
(1) Guanine, Adenine-Purines (2) Adenine, Thymine-Purines
(3) Thymine, Uracil-Pyrimidines (4) Uracil, Cytosine-Pyrimidines
Q.57 In the DNA molecule - [AIPMT - 2008]
(1) the proportion of Adenine in relation to thymine varies with the organism
(2) there are two stands which run antiparallel one in 5', 3' direction and other in 3', 5'
(3) the total amount of purine nucleotide and pyrimidine nucleotides is not always equal
(4) there are two strands which run parallel in the 5', 3' direction

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 59

Q.58 Which one of the following pairs of codons is correctly matched with their function or the
signal for the particular amino acid ? [AIPMT - 2008]
(1) AUG, ACG-Start/Methionine (2) UUA, UCA-Leucine
(3) GUU, GCU-Alanine (4) UAG, UGA-Stop
Q.59 What is not true for genetic code - [AIPMT - 2009]
(1) It is unambigouous
(2) A codon in m RNA is read in a non-contiguous fashion
(3) It is nearly universal
(4) It is degenerate
Q.60 Removal of introns and joining the exons in a defined order in a transcription unit is called-
[AIPMT - 2009]
(1) Capping (2) Splicing
(3) Tailing (4) Transformation
Q.61 Semiconservative replication of DNA was first demonstrated in - [AIPMT - 2009]
(1) Salmonella typhimurium (2) Dropsophila melanogaster
(3) Escherichia coli (4) Streptococcus pneumoniae
Q.62 Whose experiments cracked the DNA and discovered unequivocally that a genetic code is a
''triplet'' - [AIPMT - 2009]
(1) Beadle and tatum (2) Nirenberg and Mathaei
(3) Hershey and Chase (4) Morgan and Sturtevant
Q.63 If one strand of DNA has the nitrogenous base sequence as ATCTG, what would be the
compiementary RNA strand sequence ? [AIPMT Pre 2012]
(1) UAGAC (2) AACTG (3) ATCGU (4) TTAGU
Q.64 Removal of RNA polymerase III from nucleoplasm will affect the synthesis of :
[AIPMT Pre 2012]
(1) hn RNA (2) m RNA (3) r RNA (4) t RNA
Q.65 Which one of the following is not a part of a transcription unit in DNA? [AIPMT Pre 2012]
(1) A terminator (2) A promoter
(3) The structural gene (4) The inducer
Q.66 A certain road accident patient with unknown blood group needs immediate blood transfusion.
His one doctor friend at once offers his blood. What was the blood group of the donor ?
[AIPMT Pre 2012]
(1) Blood group AB (2) Blood group O
(3) Blood group A (4) Blood group B
Q.67 Removal of introns and joining of exons in a defined order during transcription is called :
[AIPMT Pre 2012]
(1) Inducing (2) Slicing
(3) Splicing (4) Looping

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 60

Q.68 The diagram shows an important concept in the genetic implication of DNA. Fill in the blanks
A to C. [AIPMT 2013]
A B Proposed by
DNA   mRNA   protein
C
(1) A - translation B - transcription C – Erevin Chargaff
(2) A - transcription B - translation C – Francis Crick
(3) A - translation B - extension C – Rosalind Franklin
(4) A - transcription B - replication C – James Watson
Q.69 Which enzyme/s will be produced in a cell in which there is a nonsense mutation in the lac Y
gene? [AIPMT 2013]
(1) Lactose permease (2) Transacetylase
(3) Lactose permease and transacetylase (4)  - galactosidasea
Q.70 Transformation was discovered by : [AIPMT 2014]
(1) Griffith (2) Watson and Crick
(3) Meselson and Stahl (4) Hershey and Chase
Q.71 Which one of the following is wrongly matched? [AIPMT 2014]
(1) Repressor protein-Binds to operator to stop enzyme synthesis.
(2) Operon–Structural genes, operator and promoter.
(3) Transcription–Writing information from DNA to t-RNA.
(4) Translation-Using information in m-RNA to make protein.
Q.72 Select the correct option : [AIPMT 2014]
Direction of Direction of reading
RNA synthesis of the template DNA
(1) 5'----3' 5'----3'
(2) 3'----5' 3'----5'
(3) 5'----3' 3'----5'
(4) 3'----5' 5'----3'
Q.73 Commonly used vectors for human genome sequencing are : [AIPMT 2014]
(1) Expression Vectors (2) T / A Cloning Vectors
(3) T –DNA (4) BAC and YAC
Answer Key

Q.1 1 Q.2 1 Q.3 1 Q.4 1 Q.5 3 Q.6 3 Q.7 2

Q.8 2 Q.9 4 Q.10 3 Q.11 2 Q.12 4 Q.13 1 Q.14 1
Q.15 3 Q.16 3 Q.17 3 Q.18 1 Q.19 2 Q.20 3 Q.21 3
Q.22 4 Q.23 1 Q.24 4 Q.25 1 Q.26 2 Q.27 3 Q.28 3
Q.29 4 Q.30 3 Q.31 2 Q.32 1 Q.33 4 Q.34 1 Q.35 4
Q.36 4 Q.37 2 Q.38 2 Q.39 1 Q.40 3 Q.41 2 Q.42 2
Q.43 2 Q.44 2 Q.45 4 Q.46 3 Q.47 3 Q.48 3 Q.49 1
Q.50 3 Q.51 4 Q.52 3 Q.53 1 Q.54 3 Q.55 3 Q.56 2
Q.57 2 Q.58 4 Q.59 2 Q.60 2 Q.61 3 Q.62 2 Q.63 1
Q.64 4 Q.65 4 Q.66 2 Q.67 3 Q.68 2 Q.69 4 Q.70 1
Q.71 3 Q.72 3 Q.73 4

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 61

 EXERCISE –3 AIIMS Speical Questions

In the following questions, a statement of assertion (A) is followed by a statement of reason

(R).
(1) If both Assertion & Reason are true and the reason is the correct explanation of the assertion,
then mark (1).
(2) If both Assertion & Reason are true but the reason is not the correct explanation of the
assertion, then mark (2).
(3) If Assertion is true statement but Reason is false, then mark (3).
(4) If both Assertion and Reason are false statements, then mark (4).
Q.1 A : RNA polymerase is of three types in eukaryotes for the synthesis of all types of RNAs.
R : RNA polymerase consists of six types of polypeptides alongwith rho factor which is
involved in termination of RNA synthesis.
Q.2 A : 5S rRNA and surrounding protein complex provides binding site of tRNA.
R : tRNA is soluble RNA with unusual bases.
Q.3 A : Operator gene is functional when it is not blocked by repressor.
R : Regulator gene produces active protein only which acts on operon system in E.coli.
Q.4 A : Peptidyl transfer site is contributed by larger sub-unit of ribosome.
R : The enzyme peptidyl transferase is contributed by both 23S and 16S ribosomal sub-units.
Q.5 A : Teminism is unidirectional flow of information.
R : It requires DNA dependent RNA polymerase enzyme.
Q.6 A : In bacterial translation mechanism, two tRNA are required by methionine.
R : AUG codes for methionine and it shows nonambiguity also.
Q.7 A : Nutritional mutant strain of pink mould is auxotroph.
R : It is not able to prepare its own metabolites from the raw materials obtained from outside.
Q.8 A : In DNA fingerprinting, hybridization is done with molecular probe.
R : Molecular probe is small DNA segment synthesized in laboratory with known sequence
that recognise complementary sequence in RNA.
Q.9 A : c-DNA libraries are important to scientists in human genomics.
R : c-DNA is synthetic type of DNA generated from mRNA.
Q.10 A : SNP-pronounced "snips" are common in human genome.
R : It is minute variations that occurs at a frequency of one in every 300 bases.
Q.11 A : A single strand of m-RNA is capable of forming a number of polypeptide chains.
R : Tarmination codons occur in m-RNA.
Q.12 A : Chromosomal aberrations are caused by a break in the chromosome or itschromatid.
R : Duplication, deficiency, transversion and trans locations are the cause of chromosomal
aberrations.
Q.13 A : ‘Lac Operon Model’ is applicable to E. coli.
R : E. coli. lacks a definite nucleus.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 62

Q.14 A : Amber codon is a termination codon.
R : If in m-RNA, a termination codon is present, the protein synthesis stops abruptly whether
the protein synthesis is completed or not.
Q.15 A : Watson and Crick provided experimental proof of semiconservative nature of DNA
replication.
R : RNA polymerase binds nucleotides in replication.
Q.16 A : The mRNA attaches itself to the ribosome via its 3' and.
R : The mRNA has nucleotide and bases of lagging sequence.
Q.17 A : Replication and transcription occur in the nucleus but translation occurs in the cytoplasm.
R : mRNA is transferred from the nucleus into the cytoplasm where ribosomes and amino
acids are available for protein synthesis.
Q.18 A : Cancer cells are virtualy immortal untill the body in which they reside dies.
R : Cancer is caused by damage to genes regulating the cell division cycle.

Answer Key

Q.1 3 Q.2 2 Q.3 3 Q.4 3 Q.5 4 Q.6 2 Q.7 1

Q.8 3 Q.9 2 Q.10 1 Q.11 2 Q.12 2 Q.13 2 Q.14 2
Q.15 4 Q.16 4 Q.17 1 Q.18 2

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 63

 Bansal Quick Review Table
Instruction to fill
(A) Write down the Question Number you are unable to solve in column A below, by Pen.
(B) After discussing the Questions written in column A with faculties, striks off them in the
manner so that you can see at the time of Revision also, to solve these questions again.
(C) Write down the Question Number you feel are important or good in the column B.

Exercise No. Column A Column B

Question I am unable to solve in
Good/Important qutestions
first attempt

Exercise – 1(a)

Exercise – 1(b)

Exercise – 2

Exercise – 3

Other Exercise

Advantages
1. It is advised to the students that they should prepare a question bank for the revision as it is
very difficult to solve all the questions at the time of revision.
2. Using above index you can prepare and maintain the questions for your revision.

Molecular Basis of Inheritance || 64