with Correct Verified Solutions 2025-
2026 Edition.
Genetics - Answer The study of how characteristics are transmitted from one generation to
the next
Phenotype - Answer An organism's physical appearance, or visible traits.
Binary fission - Answer How prokaryotes transmit info from parent to daughter cell
Mitosis - Answer How eukaryotes transmit info from parent to daughter cell
Chromosomes - Answer Where genetic material is carried
Sister chromatids - Answer Joined copies of the duplicate and template chromosomes
Centromere - Answer Point of attachment of sister chromatids
Homologous Chromosomes - Answer Pair of chromosomes that are the same size, same
appearance and same genes but are not attached to each other
Alleles - Answer Different versions of the same gene
Semi conservative - Answer * DNA Replication is this
* When new DNA is formed, one strand is "old" and the other is "new"
Mutation - Answer Heritable change to DNA
Spontaneous Mutation - Answer Mutation that occurs as a result of errors in natural biological
processes
,Most mistakes are fixed by DNA polymerase's proofreading ability- mistake detection halts DNA
synthesis so that nucleotide can be replaced
Mismach Repair - Answer Corrects incorrect bases after replication ends
Silent mutation - Answer Do not result in a change in an amino acid (ex. both CCG and CCU
code for proline, so a change from CCG to CCU won't change the amino acid)
Missense mutation - Answer Result in a change in an amino acid (ex. GAU codes for aspartic
acid, while GUU codes for valine- a change from GAU to GUU would result in change of amino
acid)
Nonsense mutation - Answer Results in insertion of premature stop codon
Loss-of-stop mutation - Answer Results when stop codon is changed to sense codon
Frameshift mutation - Answer Occurs when one or two bases are inserted in a protein-coding
sequence, thus altering the reading frame. Can result from both insertion or deletion.
mRNA - Answer What ribosomes use to produce polypeptides
tRNA - Answer Bring correct amino acid to growing polypeptide strand
rRNA - Answer Catalyzes peptide bond formation during translation
Transcription - Answer Process where RNA is synthesized from DNA
Transcription Step 1: Initiation - Answer RNA polymerase binds to promoter sequence and
starts to unwind DNA
Transcription Step 2: Elongation - Answer RNA polymerase connects nucleotides that base-pair
with the template strand nucleotides.
,RNA-polymerase is more error prone than DNA polymerase
Transcription Step 3: Termination - Answer Transcription stops when RNA polymerase reaches
the termination site, which is on the 3' end of a gene
Coding DNA strand - Answer Strand with the same sequence as the mRNA (except U is
switched for T, of course)
Template DNA strand - Answer Strand of DNA that is complementary to the coding strand- is
the strand read by RNA polymerase.
What happens during post-transcriptional processing? - Answer 1) Guanine cap (g-cap) is
added to 5' end of pre-mRNA- protects mRNA from digestion by ribonucleases
2) Poly-A tail of 100-200 adenine molecules is added to 3' end of pre-mRNA
3) RNA splicing occurs- Introns are cut out of spliced genes, while extrons remain. Extrons are
joined together by spliceosomes that recognize signals that occur as short consensus sequences
Intron - Answer Sequence of nucleotides that are transcribed but removed from pre-mRNA
during post-transcriptional processing
Extron - Answer Nucleotide sequences that are not removed during post-transcriptional
processing
Ribozymes - Answer RNA molecules that function as enzymes (ex. rRNA)
Codon - Answer 3-base sequence on mRNA that code for specific amino acids
True or false: Genetic code is ambiguous - Answer False- each codon only codes for one amino
acid, making genetic code unambiguous
Acts as "start codon" - Answer Methionine (MET)
, Note: These do not code for an amino acid; they only tell the mRNA synthesis to stop
Sense codons - Answer Codons that code for amino acids
Translation - Answer The synthesis of a polypeptide from mRNA- happens when tRNA links
mRNA and amino acids
Polypeptide synthesis: A site - Answer Aminoacyl tRNA site, is where charged tRNA is bound to
the ribosome
Polypeptide synthesis: P site - Answer Peptidyl-tRNA binding site, where amino acid is
attached to the growing polypeptide sequence
Polypeptide synthesis: E site - Answer Exit site, where tRNA molecules go before they are
released by the ribosome
Polypeptide Synthesis Step 1: Initiation - Answer Small subunit binds the mRNA at the 5' end
of the mRNA leader sequence, forming the initiation complex.
When proper binding forms between a codon and tRNA molecule, hydrogen bonds form
between base pairs.
This occurs in the presence of initiation factors
Polypeptide Synthesis Step 2: Elongation - Answer In the presence of an elongation factor, the
codon in the A site forms an H bond with the anticodon of the correctly charged tRNA. Think of
it as a movement of mRNA through the ribosomal complex
Ribosome "moves" from 5' to 3'
Translocation - Answer Movement of mRNA through ribosomal complex- the mRNA takes up
tRNA as it goes.