Exam 3 Study Guide

Exam #3 Study Guide

Lecture: DNA structure and function

• Know the difference between haploid and diploid cells

  • Diploid has two sets of chromosomes

  • Haploid has one set of chromosomes

• Know the four nucleotides that make up DNA

  • Adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine

• Terms to know:

  • Chromosomes: tightly packed DNA, two sister chromatids that are joined together

Lecture: DNA replication

• Know what the DNA polymerase does

  • DNA polymerases assemble new strands of DNA at primers using nucleotides. Like a printer, catch mistakes during DNA replication

• Know that mutations can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful

• Know how mutations happen

  • Mutation: permanent change in the DNA sequence of a chromosome

  • Nucleotide may be moved or deleted, Extra nucleotide may be added, Replicated DNA that isn’t like parent strand

• Know the common causes of mutations

  • Chemical exposure, infectious agents, direct damage to DNA

• Terms to know:

  • Mutagen: chemical that permanently changes DNA

Lecture: Intro to DNA transcription and translation

• Know what transcription does

  • Process of copying a gene into RNA form

  • Transcription made 3 types of RNA (rRNA, tRNA, mRNA)

• Know what translation does

  • Using mRNA to build proteins from amino acids

  • Translation makes a protein

• Know the three types of RNA

  • rRNA ribosomal RNA

  • tRNA transfer RNA

  • mRNA messenger RNA

• Terms to know:

  • genes: segments of DNA that contain information about certain traits

Lecture: Steps of transcription and translation

• Know where both transcription and translation occur

  • Translation occurs in the cytoplasm

  • Transcription occurs in the nucleus

• Know the difference between introns and exons

  • Introns are removed from newly made mRNA strands because they do not code for proteins

  • Exons code for proteins.

  • Both are segments of genes

Lecture: Mitosis

• Know what telomeres are and how they relate to age

  • Telomeres - regions of noncoding DNA @ ends of chromosomes

  • They act as a cushion to protect genes in DNA, they shorten when cells divide and when they’re too short the cell dies, causes organisms to get weak with age

• Know the chromosome numbers of parent and daughter cells

  • Should be the same, right?

• Know malignant vs benign neoplasms

  • malignant neoplasms grow fast, spread, and are dangerous to the organism's health

• Terms to know:

  • Apoptosis: Major mistakes that can’t be fixed by checkpoint genes can trigger apoptosis; Self destruct button that starts cell death

Lecture: Meiosis

• Know that asexual reproduction uses mitosis only

• Know that sexual reproduction uses meiosis and mitosis

• Know what meiosis and fertilization does to chromosome number

  • Meiosis halves the number of chromosomes, Fertilization restores chromosome number

• Terms to know:

  • Allele: different forms of the same gene

  • sexual reproduction: reproduction with offspring from two parents, creates genetically unique offspring

  • asexual reproduction: single parent copies itself to make offspring, genetically identical offspring

Lecture: Genetics 1

• Be able to tell the difference between codominance and incomplete dominance

  • Codominance: two dominant alleles, often see a mix of the two traits, both traits are present

• Incomplete dominance: both alleles aren’t fully dominant or recessive, often get a combo of the two traits

• Be able to complete a Punnett Square

Lecture: Evolution

• Know the four principles of evolution

  • Variation in traits, inheritance of traits, selection (encourage, discourage) of traits, time

• Know the difference between macroevolution and microevolution

  • Macroevolution: large scale evolutionary changes over a long period of time, most controversial part of evolution

  • Microevolution: evolutionary change within a species over a short period of time (like the croatian lizards)

• Know that mutations create new alleles

• People to know

  • Charles Darwin: studied finches on the Galapagos Islands, best known for the understanding of evolutionary biology, natural selection

• Terms to know:

  • Speciation: the formation of new and distinct species during evolution, ancestral population splits up and form new species

  • Fitness:how well a species is suited for a particular environment

  • Evolution: a process of gradual change that takes place over many generations, during which species of animals, plants, or insects slowly change some of their physical characteristics, change of population = evolution