BIOL 238 Review 2009

This page provides review questions for BIOL 238 (Spring 2010). Answers may be posted by students.

Chapter 7

1. What are the relative advantages and limitations of bidirectional replication versus rolling circle replication? What kind of genetic entities are likely to favor one over the other?

2. What kinds of mutant phenotypes reveal aspect of the mechanism of DNA replication and cell division? Explain two specific examples.

3. Explain how it's possible for the replisome to replicate the leading and lagging strands simultaneously.

4. During resolution of a catenane, how might a major mutation occur affecting the entire genome? How do you think this mutation is prevented?

5. During rapid growth, why would a bacterial cell die if the antibiotic drug “forms a physical barrier in front of the DNA replication complex.”?

6. What are the relative advantages and limitations of bidirectional versus rolling-circle replication of DNA? Explain in terms of different genome sizes, types, and cell situation when replication occurs.

7. When you sequence a genome, how do you know where the base pairs in the genome are located since the DNA used to sequence the genome is in fragments?

Chapter 8

1. Explain how a biochemical experiment can demonstrate the specific protein targeted by a new antibiotic that impairs transcription.

2. If Mycoplasma genitalium cannot synthesize its own amino acids, does it have extensive/multiple protein channels (ABC pumps) to let amino acids pass its membrane? If proteins are made of amino acids, though, how did the first M. genitalium’s protein channels come into existence?

3. In tRNA, there are "unusual" bases not found in mRNA How are these bases generated? Do you think they arise from a recently-evolved aspect of tRNA, or do you think they are an ancient phenomenon of the original RNA world? Explain.

4. What kinds of pharmaceutical agents could you design to act on gene promoters? Explain using protein and/or RNA molecules.

5. Why do you think bacterial cells absorb protein and nucleic acids that are exported by other bacteria?

6. How could you sequence the genome of an unculturable microbe?

7. What are the different ways of starting or stopping transcription of a gene?

8. As a peptide is synthesized, what problems may need to be solved in order to complete a protein and enable its function?

Chapter 9 and 10

1. In the process of conjugation, how are genes moved? Are genes moved individually or in groups? Could part of a gene be moved?

2. How are microbial species defined? What is the role of vertical phylogeny; and the role of horizontal gene exchange? Explain why species definition is a problem.

3. Why is competence factor exported out of the cell to bind to ComD externally in transformation of Streptococcus? Why doesn't the molecule bind internally? Doesn't exporting CF waste energy?

4. If a spontaneous mutation occurs to form an apurinic site, transcription and replication are hindered, but what actually happens when the replisome gets to the hole where the base should be?

5. Explain how a DNA sequence inverts during phase variation. Would you expect it to revert at the same rate? Why or why not?

6. Explain the different propagation strategies available to a replicative transposon. What are various ways the transposon could spread within a cell? Among organisms?

7. Explain how the ara operon works, and how it differs from the lac operon.

8. Explain how different mechanisms acting at different levels on DNA and RNA can modulate gene expression over a range of time scales, from multiple generations to within a few seconds.

9. Explain the roles of thermodynamic and kinetic effects in attenuation control of the trp operon.

Ma et al. paper

1. What do bacterial biofilms have in common with multicellular organisms? How do they differ?

2. What are the advantages to bacteria of biofilm formation? What properties do biofilms confer?

3. Where in the body do biofilms form infections? Why?

5. How does the ara promoter work (pBAD)? How was pBAD used to test the role of the psl operon in bioflim development?

6. How was it proved that psl encodes PSL polysaccharide? How does PSL compare in structure with alginate?

Chapter 13

1. ATP and NADH are both energy carriers: What are the advantages of using one over the other?

2. When cells need to make glucose (gluconeogenesis), they "reverse glycolysis" because most steps are reversible. However, there are a couple of steps that are not reversible. How do you think they get reversed for gluconeogenesis?

3. There are 3 main pathways to form pyruvate- EMP, ED and PPS. How and why might a cell switch among these?

4. Explain why most soil bacteria grow using energy-yielding reactions with very small delta-G.

5. Why are glucose catabolism pathways ubiquitous, despite the fact that most bacterial habitats never provide glucose? Explain several reasons.

6. In glycolysis, explain why bacteria have to return the hydrogens from NADH back onto pyruvate to make fermentation products. Why can't NAD+ serve as a terminal electron acceptor, like O₂?

7. Why do environmental factors regulate catabolism? Give examples. Why are amino acids decarboxylated at low pH, and under anaerobiosis?

8. Why does catabolism of benzene derivatives yield less energy than sugar catabolism? Why is benzene-derivative catabolism nevertheless widespread among soil bacteria?

Chapter 14

1. Explain how bacteria and archaea switch among various electron acceptors depending on environmental conditions.

2. Explain how cell processes such as ATP synthesis can be powered by either the transmembrane pH difference or by the charge difference across the membrane. Which form of energy is likely to be used at low external pH? At high external pH?

3. For phototrophy, discuss the relative advantages and limitations of using PS I versus PS II.

4. What environments favor oxygenic photosynthesis, versus sulfur phototrophy and photoorganotrophy? Explain.

5. Explain why certain lithotrophs acidify their environments, to more extreme levels than fermentation. What are some practical consequences for human industry?

6. Is it surprising that an organism may switch between lithotrophy and organotrophy? What enzymes would have to be replaced, and what enzymes could be used in common for both kinds of metabolism?

7. What kind of environments favor methanogenesis? Why are methanogens widespread, despite the low delta-G of their energy-yielding metabolism?

Chapter 15

1. Why does biosynthesis need both ATP and NADPH? Why couldn't biosynthetic pathways use just ATP, or just NADPH?

2. Compare and contrast fatty acid biosynthesis and amino acid biosynthesis. Which pathway requires more reduction? Which requires a greater number of different enzymes? Why?

3. What forms of nitrogen are available to microbes for assimilation? When fertilizer is spread on farmland to nourish crops, what problem is caused by microbes? What are the other oxidized forms that bacteria and plants take up and reduce to ammonia and ammonium ion? What about N from reduced organic compounds?

4. How are the pathways of amino acid biosynthesis organized? What common routes flow from which core pathways?

5. How and why do bacteria make "secondary products"? What are their functions?

6. How can we manipulate bacterial secondary product formation to develop new pharmaceutical agents?

Chapter 18

1. Compare and contrast the major divisions of bacteria. State an example of a species of each major division.

2. Explain an example of a major division of bacteria whose species show nearly uniform metabolism but differ widely in form. Explain a different example of a division showing a common, distinctive form, but variety of metabolism.

3. Compare and contrast three different types of phototrophy found in bacteria.

4. Explain the pathology of three different gram-positive pathogens.

5. Explain two different examples of bacterial-host mutualism.

6. Students: Place bacterial unknown descriptions here for identification.

a. This bacteria is irregularly shaped with peptidoglycan cell walls and a cytoskeleton containing tubulin (previously thought to only be present in Eukaryotes). They are heterotrophs living in variable environments that are usually low in salt, and most are oligotrophs.
b. This bacteria has a nucleus similar to that of a eukaryotic organism. It is most notable for its unique membrane structure. It has multiple internal membranes, with a double membrane functioning to surround the nucleoid. What am I?!
c. Bacteria in this group are filamentous photoheterotrophs. In the presence of oxygen they conduct nonphotosynthetic heterotrophy. They can be found in microbial mats together with thermophilic cyanobacteria. Some species contain chlorosomes. They are also known as green nonsulfur bacteria.
d. These bacteria are photolithotrophs that deposit sulfur on the cell surface. They use H₂S as an electron donor and are known as green sulfur bacteria. These bacteria also live in strictly anaerobic conditions below the water surface.
e. This bacterium is gram positive but has permanently lost its cell wall and S-layer due to reductive/degenerative evolution. It also has the smallest genome(580 kbp) and it is parasitic.
This bacterial species ferments complex carbohydrates and serves as one of the major mutualists of the human gut. Has a Gram-negative structure and is an obligate anaerobe.
f. These bacteria are deep branching and come in a multitude of forms. They can be found living independently or in colonies. Often times, these different forms allow them to fix nitrogen. While these organisms can be found in both aquatic and terrestrial habitats, many species contain gas vesicles to maintain a favorable position in the water column.

7. Archaea identification

a. These archaea were once thought to be extremophiles, but it turns out they are the most abundant archaea in the ocean. Nonetheless, the thermophiles responsible for giving this false impression are found at temperatures of 113degrees. Others are found living in sulfuring springs. When gram stained, these archaea appear gram-negative.