AP/IB Biology Study Guide Chapters 16/17

Chapter 16

1. Explain why researchers originally thought protein was the genetic material
2. Summarize the experiments performed by the following scientists
1. Frederick Griffith
2. Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase
3. Erwin Chargaff
4. Avery, McCarty, and MacLeod
3. List the 3 components of a nucleotide
4. Distinguish between ribose and deoxyribose
5. List the nitrogen bases found in DNA and distinguish between pyrimidine and purine
6. Explain how Watson and Crick deduced the structure of DNA and describe what evidence they used
7. Explain the base-pairing rule and describe its significance
8. Describe the structure of DNA and explain what kind of chemical bond connects the nucleotides of each strand and what type of bond holds the 2 strands together
9. Explain semisconservative replication and describe the Meselson-Stahl experiment
10. Describe the process of DNA replication and explain the role of helicase, single strand binding protein, DNA polymerase, ligase, and primase.
11. Explain what energy source drives endergonic synthesis of DNA
12. Define antiparallel and explain why continuous synthesis of both DNA strands is not possible
13. Distinguish between the leading strand and the lagging strand
14. Explain how the lagging strand is synthesized when DNA polymerase can add nucleotides only to the 3' end
15. Explain the role of DNA polymerase, ligase, and repair enzymes in DNA proofreading and repair.

Chapter 17

1. Describe early experimental evidence that implicated proteins as the links between genotype and phenotype
2. Describe Beadle and Tatum's experiments with Neurospora and explain the contribution they made to our understanding of how genets control metabolism
3. Distinguish between the "one gene~one enzyme" hypothesis and the "one gene~one polypeptide" hypothesis and explain why the original hypothesis was changed
4. Explain how DNA differs from RNA
5. Explain how information flows from gene to protein
6. Describe where transcription and translation occur in prokaryotes and in eukaryotes and explain why it is significant that in eukaryotes, transcription and translation are separated in space and time
7. Define codon and explain what relationship exists between the linear sequence of codons on mRNA and the linear sequence of codons on mRNA and the linear sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide
8. List the three stop codons and the one start codon
9. Explain in what way the genetic code is redundant and unambiguous
10. Explain the evolutionary significance of a nearly universal code
11. Explain the process of transcription including the 3 major steps of initiation, elongation, and termination
12. Explain the general role of RNA polymerase in transcription
13. Explain how RNA polymerase recognizes where transcription should begin
14. Specifically describe the primary functions of RNA polymerase II
15. Distinguish among mRNA, tRNA, and rRNA
16. Describe the structure of tRNA and explain how the structure is related to function
17. Given a sequence of bases in DNA, predict the corresponding codons transcribed on mRNA and the corresponding anticodons of tRNA
18. Describe the wobble effect
19. Explain how an aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase matches a specific amino acid to its appropriate tRNA and describe the energy source that drives this endergonic process
20. Describe the structure of a ribosome and explain how this structure relates to function
21. Describe the process of translation including initiation, elongation, and termination and explain what enzymes, protein factors, and energy sources are need for each stage
22. Explain what determines the primary structure of a protein and describe how a polypeptide must be modified before it becomes fully functional
23. Describe what determines whether a ribosome will be free in the cytosol or attached to rough ER
24. Explain how proteins can be targeted for specific sites within the cell
25. Describe the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic mRNA
26. Explain how eukaryotic mRNA is processed before it leaves the nucleus
27. Describe some biological functions of introns and gene splicing
28. Explain why base-pair insertions or deletions usually have a greater effect than base-pair substitutions
29. Describe how mutagenesis can occur

Terms: