Eukaryotic Gene Regulation in Action: Examples from Development

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Questions

Question 1

What is the phenotypic outcome of a mutation in the ultrabithorax (Ubx) gene in Drosophila, as described in the text?

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Question 2

According to the text, why did geneticists Eric Wieschaus and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard primarily study embryonic phenotypes in their search for developmental mutants?

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Question 3

What is the collective term for the various protein factors that bind cooperatively to an enhancer element to regulate transcription?

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Question 4

How many separate enhancers have been identified to control the complex, seven-striped expression pattern of the eve gene in Drosophila?

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Question 5

What is the primary function of DNA elements called insulators in the context of eukaryotic gene regulation?

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Question 6

Which mechanism allows microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate the expression of target genes?

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Question 7

What is the key difference between a forward genetic screen and a reverse genetic screen?

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Question 8

The eve gene in Drosophila is regulated by activators and repressors that determine the position of its expression stripes. Which of the following is an activator for the eve stripe 2 enhancer?

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Question 9

What is the correct hierarchical order of gene classes that pattern the anterior-posterior axis of the Drosophila embryo, from earliest acting to latest?

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Question 10

What is a syncytium, as described in the context of early Drosophila embryonic development?

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Question 11

What is the function of the homeobox, a common amino acid sequence found in homeotic (Hox) gene proteins?

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Question 12

What is the evolutionary significance of the fact that mammals have four clusters of Hox genes (Hox-A, -B, -C, -D) while Drosophila has two?

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Question 13

What is collinearity in the context of Hox gene clusters?

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Question 14

Mutations in the coding sequence of the human Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) gene are associated with anomalies in which body parts?

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Question 15

What is the approximate size of the ZRS (Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence) enhancer itself?

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Question 16

What is the proposed evolutionary consequence of the 17-base pair deletion found in the ZRS enhancer of all snakes?

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Question 17

In a reporter gene experiment, what would be the expected result if the eve stripe 2 enhancer was fused to a LacZ reporter gene and introduced into a Drosophila embryo?

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Question 18

What is the key characteristic of maternal effect genes like bicoid?

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Question 19

The protein Hunchback acts as both an activator and a repressor for the eve gene. On which stripes does it act as a repressor?

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Question 20

Which class of developmental genes, which includes hunchback, kruppel, and giant, is responsible for establishing broad domains of expression in the early embryo?

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Question 21

What does a mutation in a pair-rule gene like eve cause in a Drosophila embryo?

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Question 22

Which statement accurately describes the relationship between the three vertebrate orthologs of the hedgehog gene?

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Question 23

What is the result of a mutation that prevents transcription from being turned off, according to the chapter on mutations?

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Question 24

Chromatin remodeling proteins can alter the accessibility of DNA to the transcription machinery. Which of the following is an action performed by these remodelers?

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Question 25

What is the key difference between euchromatin and heterochromatin?

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Question 26

Who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006 for the discovery of RNA interference?

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Question 27

According to the chapter, why have some of the whimsical or insensitive names for Drosophila genes, like 'Kruppel', been changed for their human orthologs?

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Question 28

What type of molecule is a morphogen, such as the Bicoid protein?

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Question 29

How do transcription factors like Bicoid, present as a gradient in the syncytial embryo, regulate the expression of zygotic genes like eve?

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Question 30

What is the phenotypic result of a loss-of-function mutation in a segment polarity gene like hedgehog?

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Question 31

What is the primary role of the genes in the Ant-C and BX-C clusters in Drosophila?

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Question 32

How does a reverse genetic experiment help researchers understand enhancer function?

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Question 33

What is a key difference in early embryonic development between Drosophila and mammals mentioned in the text?

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Question 34

Why are Hox genes considered to be highly conserved among all species studied?

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Question 35

In the hierarchy of developmental genes, what is the role of segment identity genes like ultrabithorax?

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Question 36

Chromatin remodeling and modification are key aspects of eukaryotic gene regulation. Which of the following enzyme types is responsible for adding acetyl groups to histones?

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Question 37

What are Topologically Associated Domains (TADs)?

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Question 38

Which of the following describes a gain-of-function mutation in the Antennapedia (Antp) gene?

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Question 39

In the context of the eve stripe 3+7 enhancer, which two proteins act as repressors?

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Question 40

What type of molecule is the product of a homeotic gene like Antennapedia or Ultrabithorax?

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Question 41

What is the term for a gene in another species that is similar to a gene in a reference species due to a shared evolutionary ancestor?

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Question 42

How do eukaryotes typically achieve co-regulation of functionally related genes, since they do not use operons?

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Question 43

What is the role of the mediator complex in eukaryotic transcription?

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Question 44

In the regulatory cascade of Drosophila development, which gene class is immediately downstream of gap genes and regulated by them?

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Question 45

Mutations in the ZRS enhancer are associated with which human phenotype?

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Question 46

When the eve stripe 2 enhancer is mutated to eliminate the binding sites for the repressor Giant (Gt), what is the predicted effect on LacZ reporter gene expression in a reverse genetics experiment?

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Question 47

What type of regulation is exemplified by the action of microRNAs (miRNAs)?

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Question 48

In the early Drosophila embryo, the protein product of the maternal effect gene Nanos has what effect on hunchback RNA?

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Question 49

The gene eve belongs to which class of developmental genes?

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Question 50

What is the general outcome of histone acetylation on chromatin structure and gene expression?

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