Exercise 1 - General

Here are some general biology questions. Using the Possible Solutions tab will convert each question to multiple choice. In the solution only Solutions are ticked.

1a)

Where is the genome stored in prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

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Solution

1b)

Name more differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes?

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1c)

List examples of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

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1d)

What are the three information-carrying biopolymers?

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1e)

What is denoted by the “Central Dogma” of molecular biology?

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Exercise 2 - DNA and RNA

The genetic information of an organism is stored in the DNA in the form of a code. This code consists of four building blocks or bases (A for adenine, C for cytosine, G for guanine, T for thymine). These bases or nucleotides follow each other in a certain sequence, e.g.:

AGTCGTAATTGGCCCCAATTGCAAAAA

A single hereditary unit consists of a subsequence of DNA (called a gene), which contains the information to build a functional RNA or protein molecule.

2a)

Match these terms to the correct number in the figure below: adenine, thymine, cytosine, guanine, uracil, phosphate, deoxyribose, hydrogen bond, backbone, and bases.

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Hint
  1. bases
  3. deoxyribose
  6. hydrogen_bond
  8. thymine
  10. backbone
Solution
  1. bases
  2. phosphate
  3. deoxyribose
  4. guanine
  5. cytosine
  6. hydrogen_bond
  7. adenine
  8. thymine
  9. uracil
  10. backbone

2b)

A piece of DNA contains 33% guanine. What are the percentages of adenine, cytosine, and thymine in that piece of DNA?

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Hint

What is the percentage of cytosine?

What is the combined percentage of guanine and cytosine?

What is the combined percentage of adenine and thymine?

Solution
  • guanine: 33%
  • cytosine: 33%
  • adenine: 17%
  • thymine: 17%

2c)

Decide which bases are pyrimidines and which are purines:

  • A - Adenine
  • C - Cytosine
  • G - Guanine
  • T - Thymine
  • U - Uracil.

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Solution
  • pyrimidines:
    • C
    • T
    • U
  • purines:
    • A
    • G

2d)

Which of these statements concerning DNA and RNA are correct?

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Solution

2e)

In what direction is an RNA sequence written?

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2f)

Why is the RNA sequence written in that direction?

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Note

The carbon-atoms in the sugar of the nucleic acid are numbered from 1 to 5. In the phosphate-sugar backbone, C5 and C4 are the carbon atoms that connect to the phosphate group so that 5’ denotes the end of the chain where C5 is the closest and 3’ denotes the ed where C3 is the closest.

2g)

Decide for the following RNAs whether they are coding or non-coding: mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, microRNA, siRNA, snoRNA

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Hint

There is only one coding RNA

Solution
  • coding: mRNA
  • non-coding: tRNA, rRNA, microRNA, siRNA, snoRNA

Exercise 3 - DNA and RNA

3a)

What do these acronyms stand for within this course?

  • DNA
  • RNA
  • ncRNA
  • mRNA
  • UTR
  • ORF
  • CDS

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3b)

Check whether the following terms belong to Eukaryotes, Prokaryotes or both.

Terms

DNA

splicing

transcription

ncRNA”

single-cell-organism

Hint

DNA

splicing

  • ✔ Eukaryotes
  • ✖ Prokaryotes

transcription

  • ✔ Eukaryotes
  • ✔ Prokaryotes

ncRNA”

single-cell-organism

Solution

DNA

splicing

transcription

ncRNA”

single-cell-organism

3c)

Check whether the following statements are True or False.

Statements
Hint
  • ✔ FASTA files are used to store sequence information
  • ✖ A Watson-Crick base pair describes a purine pairing with a purine
Solution

Exercise 4 - Programming assignment

Programming assignments are available via Github Classroom and contain automatic tests.

We recommend doing these assignments since they will help you to further understand this topic.

Access the Github Classroom link: Programming Assignment: Sheet 01.