CHAPTER 11: DNA: The Carrier of Genetic Information

Practice Test Questions

MULTIPLE CHOICE:
For questions 1 to 4, match the names in the key list to the statements below.
KEY LIST
(e) Hershey and Chase
1. A = T and G = C.
2. Only the DNA from a bacteriophage enters the bacteria.
3. R strain bacteria became an S strain through transformation.
4. DNA replication is semiconservative.
5. If 30% of an organism's DNA is thymine than:
(a) 70% will be purines
(b) 20% will be guanine
(c) 30% will be adenine
(d) Both b and c, but not a.
(e) a, b and c are true.
6. If you grew bacteria in heavy nitrogen and then switched them to light nitrogen,
how many generations after switching would you have some light/light (e.g., both
strand light) DNA?
(a) Never, because replication is semiconservative.
(b) first generation
(c) second generation
(d) only the third generation
7. If one strand of DNA has the base sequence ATCGTA, what will the
complementary strand have?
(a) TAGCAT
(b) ATCGTA
(c) CAGTCT
(d) All of above
(e) None of the above
8. The double helix model of DNA resembles a twisted ladder in which the rungs of
the ladder are:
(a) a purine paired with a pyrimidine.
(b) A paired with G and C paired with T.

(c) sugar-phosphate paired with sugar-phosphate.

(d) Both a and b, but not c.
9. Cell division requires that the genetic material be able to:
(a) store information.
(b) be replicated.
(c) undergo rare mutations.
(d) all of the above.
10. In a DNA molecule:
(a) the bases are covalently bonded to the sugars.
(b) the sugars are covalently bonded to the phosphates.
(c) the bases are hydrogen bonded to one another.
(d) all of the above are true.
11. What fact did Hershey and Chase use to their advantage in their experiments?
(a) Cysteine (a sulfur containing amino acid) is in DNA.
(b) Methionine (a sulfur containing amino acid) is in RNA.
(c) P is absent in amino acids.
(d) S is present in DNA.
(e) DNA contains both S and P.
12. Each is a component of a DNA nucleotide except:
(a) deoxyribose
(b) nitrogenous base
(c) phosphate group
(d) ribose sugar
13. The number of adenine bases in a DNA molecule equals the number of thymine
bases because:
(a) Whenever DNA polymerase places a T into a new DNA strand, it always puts an
A directly after it.
(b) A DNA strand consists of alternating adenine and thymine bases.
(c) Adenine on one strand hydrogen-bonds to thymine on the other strand.
(d) DNA contains equal numbers of each of the four nitrogenous bases.
14. The reading of the bases along the length of a nucleic acid molecule for either
transcription or translation is done from the:
(a) 1' end
(b) 2' end
(c) 3' end
(d) 4' end

(e) 5' end

(f) at any point
15. Information obtained by Franklin from X-ray crystallography on DNA suggested
that it is a(n):
(a) helix
(b) ribbon
(c) hollow cylinder
(d) pleated sheet
(e) non-repeating
16. Replication of DNA is:
(a) conservative
(b) cooperative
(c) dispersive
(d) semiconservative