74 What happens to RNA polymerase II before it assembles into the preinitiation

Multiple Choice complex?

a. It becomes dephosphorylated.
Feedback: 11.4 b. It becomes phosphorylated.
c. It has a section excised.
d. An oligopeptide is added.
76 Where is the RNA polymerase II phosphorylated during its activation?
68 You incubate eukaryotic cells for 30 minutes in 3H-uridine and then chase
a. on the N-terminal end of the largest RNA polymerase II subunit
them in unlabeled media for about an hour before the cells are killed and the
b. on the central 20 amino acids of the largest RNA polymerase II subunit
RNA is extracted. Where does the radiolabel appear after this experiment?
c. on the 3' end of the largest RNA polymerase II subunit
a. in larger RNAs in the cytoplasm
d. on the 5' end of the largest RNA polymerase II subunit
b. in smaller RNAs in the mitochondria
e. in the carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest RNA polymerase II
c. in smaller RNAs in the cytoplasm
subunit
d. in larger RNAs in the mitochondria
77 Which of the following is not a normal property of eukaryotic mRNAs?
e. in moderately sized RNAs in the Golgi complex
a. They contain a continuous nucleotide sequence encoding a specific
69 Heterogeneous nuclear RNAs are _________.
polypeptide.
a. tRNA precursors
b. They are found in the cytoplasm and inside the Golgi complex.
b. mRNA precursors
c. They are attached to ribosomes when they are translated.
c. rRNA precursors
d. Most have a significant noncoding segment that does not direct assembly
d. snoRNA precursors
of amino acids.
70 Most of the cellular RNA is in what form?
e. Eukaryotic mRNAs have special modifications at their 5' & 3' termini.
a. hnRNAs
78 The 3' end of most eukaryotic mRNAs contains a ______, while the 5' end
b. snoRNAs
has a _________.
c. mRNAs
a. poly(A) tail, methylated guanosine cap
d. rRNAs
b. poly(U) tail, methylated guanosine cap
e. hmRNAs
c. methylated guanosine cap, poly(A) tail
71 How would you describe the half-lives of rRNAs and tRNAs?
d. poly(A) tail, sulfonated guanosine cap
a. days or weeks long
e. methylated guanosine cap, poly(U) tail
b. minutes long
79 Why are hnRNAs so much bigger than mature mRNAs?
c. seconds long
a. They perform totally different and unconnected functions.
d. hours long
b. Before hnRNAs are converted to mRNAs, large noncoding portions are
72 What is responsible for synthesizing hnRNAs?
removed from the hnRNAs.
a. RNA polymerase I
c. Before hnRNAs are converted to mRNAs, large coding portions are
b. RNA polymerase II
removed from the hnRNAs.
c. RNA polymerase III
d. hnRNAs are formed by adding significant portions to the ends of mRNAs.
d. reverse transcriptase
e. hnRNAs are formed by adding significant portions to the central portion of
e. general transcription factors
mRNAs.
73 RNA polymerase II promoters are located on the ____ side of each
80 You isolate an ovalbumin-gene-containing DNA fragment from the chicken
transcription unit.
and hybridize it to the freshly-made and isolated hnRNA from the nucleus of the
a. 3'
chicken cells transcribed from the ovalbumin gene immediately after it was
b. 5'
produced. What do you see when you look at the hybrids under the electron
c. N-terminal
microscope?
d. C-terminal
a. a continuous, double-stranded, DNA-RNA hybrid
e. internal
 b. regions of double-stranded DNA-RNA hybrid with single-stranded DNA a. about 25
loop regions bulging out b. exactly 1000
c. no DNA-RNA hybrid regions c. about 750
d. regions of double-stranded DNA-RNA hybrid with single-stranded RNA d. about 250
loop regions bulging out e. about 2500
81 You isolate an ovalbumin-gene-containing DNA fragment from the chicken 88 What feature of mature mRNAs is thought to protect them from premature
and hybridize it to the isolated, mature ovalbumin mRNA from the cytoplasm degradation by cellular exonucleases?
of the chicken cells. What do you see when you look at the hybrids under the a. 5'-methylguanosine cap
electron microscope? b. poly(A) tail
a. a continuous, double-stranded, DNA-RNA hybrid c. introns
b. regions of double-stranded DNA-RNA hybrid with single-stranded DNA d. exons
loop regions bulging out e. consensus sequences
c. no DNA-RNA hybrid regions 89 Once processing of hnRNA to mRNA is completed, the mature mRNA
d. regions of double-stranded DNA-RNA hybrid with single-stranded RNA complexes with proteins that generally associate with mRNAs. What is this
loop regions bulging out assembly called?
82 How would one describe the bond that holds the inverted methylguanosine a. GMP
cap on the 5' end of a mature mRNA? b. mRNP
a. 5'-3' triphosphate bridge c. giant RNP
b. 3'-5' triphosphate bridge d. messagons
c. 3'-3' triphosphate bridge e. snoRNA
d. 5'-5' triphosphate bridge 90 You have attached synthetic poly(T) to a chromatography column. If you
e. 3'-5' phosphodiester linkage pass a mixture of cellular RNAs through the column, what type of RNA will
83 What recruits the enzymes that form the 5'-methylguanosine cap to the be selectively retained by the column and of what type of chromatography is
hnRNA to facilitate cap formation? this technique an example?
a. the poly(A) tail a. rRNAs, affinity chromatography
b. the first intron b. mRNAs, affinity chromatography
c. the CTD of the polymerase c. mRNAs, ion exchange chromatography
d. the first exon d. mRNAs, gel filtration
84 What is the name of the enzyme that adds the poly(A) tail to a messenger e. rRNAs, affinity chromatography
RNA? 91 Why must RNA splicing be absolutely precise?
a. poly(A) endonuclease a. A single base error at a splice junction will cause a large deletion.
b. poly(A) exonuclease b. A single base error at a splice junction will cause a large addition.
c. poly(A) polymerase c. A single base error at a splice junction will change the reading frame and result
d. RNA polymerase II in mRNA mistranslation.
e. RNA polymerase III d. b and c
85 The mRNA for which of the following proteins lacks a poly(A) tail? e. A single base error at a splice junction will cause a large inversion.
a. glutamine synthetase 92 The vast majority of eukaryotic pre-mRNAs contain sequences that help to
b. catalase mark the boundaries of exons and introns. These include the _______ or the 5'
c. collagen splice site, the _______ or the 3' splice site and the ________ near the 3' splice
d. histones site.
e. non-histone acidic proteins a. AG/G at the 5' end of the intron, G/GU at the 3' end of the intron,
87 What is the average number of adenosine residues added to the end of an polypyrimidine tract
mRNA to build the poly(A) tail?
 b. G/GU at the 5' end of the intron, AG/G at the 3' end of the intron, e. DNA ligases
polypyrimidine tract 98 Which of the following is not a supplementary role played by accessory
c. AG/G at the 5' end of the intron, G/GU at the 3' end of the intron, polypurine snRNP proteins?
tract a. maintaining the proper 3D structure of the snRNA
d. G/GU at the 5' end of the intron, AG/G at the 3' end of the intron, polypurine b. driving changes in snRNA conformation
tract c. transporting spliced mRNAs to the nuclear envelope
e. G/GU at the 3' end of the intron, AG/G at the 5' end of the intron, d. selecting the splice sites to be used during the processing of a particular pre-
polypyrimidine tract mRNA
93 The intermediate stage that the group II introns pass through while undergoing e. cutting the intron at its 5' splice site
self-splicing is called the _____. 99 Exonic splicing sequences (ESEs) serve as binding sites for which RNA-
a. langolier binding proteins below?
b. lanyard a. Sm proteins
c. lariat b. RNA helicases
d. lasso c. SR proteins
e. elsesser d. RNases
94 The macromolecular complex that associates with each intron and splices it is e. CTDases
called a(n) _______. 100 SR proteins derive their name from their large content of which dipeptides?
a. splicer a. arginine-cysteine
b. acrosome b. alanine-serine
c. spliceosome c. arginine-arginine
d. splicing body d. arginine-serine
e. splice engine e. asparagines-serine
95 Which family of proteins is present in all of the snRNPs? 101 What are the SR proteins thought to do?
a. ribonucleases a. They are thought to stabilize mRNAs.
b. Sm proteins b. They may form interlacing networks spanning intron/exon borders and help to
c. Am proteins recruit snRNPs to splice sites.
d. Mm proteins c. They may serve as glue holding DNA and RNA together.
e. snurp proteins d. They may stabilize DNA.
96 The Sm proteins, which are always associated with snRNPs, were first e. They may cleave the RNA to be spliced.
identified because they were the targets of antibodies produced by patients 102 In addition to binding RNA, SR proteins may bind to RNA polymerase. To
suffering from which autoimmune disease? what portion of RNA polymerase might it bind?
a. multiple sclerosis a. arginine residues in RNA polymerase
b. diabetes b. negatively-charged phosphate groups that are added to the polymerase's CTD
c. rheumatoid arthritis as transcription begins
d. systemic lupus erythematosus c. positively-charged acetate groups that are added to the polymerase's CTD as
e. bullous pemphigoid transcription begins
151. There are multiple rearrangements of RNA molecules that occur during d. the carbohydrate portion of the glycoprotein RNA polymerase
spliceosome assembly. What enzyme present within snRNPs probably 103 What is the CTD of the polymerase thought to do when it is phosphorylated?
mediates these rearrangements? a. inhibit the enzyme
a. ribonuclease P b. recruit a wide variety of processing factors
b. DNA helicase c. unwind the DNA
c. RNA helicases d. unwind the RNA
d. RNA ligases e. separate the DNA and RNA after transcription
104 As life was first evolving, what molecule is thought to have performed a. transcription of RNA to DNA
double duty as the genetic material and performing catalysis of chemical b. transcription of DNA to RNA
reactions? c. conversion of ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides
a. RNA d. translation of RNA to DNA
b. proteins e. conversion of a ribonucleotide to a DNA double helix
c. polypeptides
d. DNA
105 Which of the phenomena below is responsible for the ability of one gene to
Review
code for more than one polypeptide?
a. transcription 1. What is a split gene? How was the existence of split genes
b. alternative splicing discovered?
c. transposition 2. What is the relationship between hnRNAs and mRNAs? How
d. hybridization was this relationship uncovered?
e. exon shuffling 3. What are the general steps in the processing of a pre-mRNA into
106 The snoRNA genes are found in the ______ of genes coding for polypeptides an mRNA? What is the role of the snRNAs and the spliceosome?
involved in _______.
a. exons, structural genes
b. introns, ribosome assembly and function Critical Thinking Question
c. exons, ribosome assembly and function 7. What appears to be the original form of most cellular mRNAs?
d. introns, structural genes Ans: Messenger RNAs are first produced as extremely large heterogeneous
e. introns, RNA synthesis nuclear RNAs. They are then edited into shorter molecules in which
107 The presence of sections in proteins that are homologous to parts of several portions are excised and the remaining pieces reconnected to make
other proteins reflects the probable movement of genetic modules among mature mRNA.
unrelated genes. This movement of genetic modules is called ________. 12. Most mRNAs coding for protein have long stretches of adenine
a. transcription ribonucleotides [poly(A)] on the 3' end of the message. Does that mean
b. alternate splicing that each gene from which these mRNAs are derived has a corresponding
c. transposition stretch of poly(dT) at the 5' end of the template from which the mRNA
d. hybridization was formed?
e. exon shuffling Ans: No, the poly(A) tail is not transcribed from the DNA of the gene, but
108 Exon shuffling allowed evolution to _________ rather than by ___________. instead it is added during mRNA processing by the enzyme poly(A)
a. jump forward in quantum leaps, the slow accumulation of point mutations polymerase.
b. accumulate point mutations slowly, jumping forward in quantum leaps
c. stagnate due to the slow rate of mutation, progressing gradually forward Art Question
d. occur rapidly due to a high mutation rate, rather than by designed change
e. none of the above
15. Look at Figure 5.21. What is unusual about the orientation and structure of
109 What technique was used to separate out RNAs that were able to bind
the bond that attaches the methylguanosine cap to the human globin
specific ligands like nucleoside triphosphates or amino acids?
mRNA? What is the typical length of the poly(A) tail?
a. gel filtration
Ans: The bond that connects the methylguanosine cap to the first nucleotide in
b. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis
the mRNA joins the 5'-carbon of that nucleotide to the 5'-carbon of the
c. non-denaturing gel electrophoresis
methylguanosine; it is not the normal bond joining the 3'- and 5'-carbons
d. ion exchange chromatography
of adjacent nucleotides. Furthermore, there are three phosphates bridging
e. affinity chromatography
the space between the cap and the mRNA proper, instead of the normal
113 What reaction is catalyzed by reverse transcriptase?
 single phosphate. While variable in length, the poly(A) tail typically
begins at a length of about 250 nucleotides.

16. In Figure 5.22, what is the average size in kilobases of hnRNA? What is the
average size in kilobases of mature mRNAs? What percentage of the
original hnRNAs is removed during RNA processing?
Ans: 12 - 15 kilobases. About 2 - 3 kilobases. About 75 - 87%.
19. In Figure 5.28, what is the name of the enzyme activity that adds a guanine
residue in reverse orientation to the 5' end of the messenger?
Ans: Guanylyltransferase. What do RNA triphosphatase and poly(A)
polymerase do? RNA triphosphatase removes the 5' terminal phosphate
of the nascent pre-mRNA transcript. Poly(A) polymerase adds the
poly(A) tail to the 3 tail without the involvement of the DNA template.
Each tail is usually about 200 - 250 adenosine residues long.

20. Look at Figure 5.30. What are the two bases at the 5' end of an intron?
What are the two bases at the 3' end of an intron? What is the sequence of
the two bases on either side of a splice site after the removal of the intron?
Ans: GU AG AGGU or AGGG.