20189 Sybsc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer Key
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Q.P. Code :20189 SYBSc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer key Q1. Do as directed: A) State whether the following are True or False: 1) Gingko tree is an example of Living Fossil- True 2) According to Darwin ‗the fittest‘ forms that are allowed to survive, are chosen by ‗Natural selection‘. – True 3) The maintenance of the sickle cell anaemia allele in human population of central Africa is an example of genetic drift. - False 4) Palaeontology is the study of past life based on fossil record.- True 5) Analogous organs are dissimilar in function but have same origin- False 6) Certain variations that get established in the population and get inherited continually are termed, heritable variations- True 7) Directional selection is an example of artificial selection- False Q. 1 B) Fill in the blanks: 1) Conditional Probability 2)Binomial 3) Equation of the curve 4)Favourable 5)Poisson 6)x = μ 7)Poisson Q. 1 C) Explain the following terms 1. PDB: The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a crystallographic database for the three-dimensional structural data of large biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids. The data, typically obtained by X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, or, increasingly, cryo-electron microscopy, and submitted by Q.P. Code :20189 SYBSc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer key biologist and biochemists from around the world, are freely accessible on the Internet via the websites of its member organizations (PDBe, PDBj, and RCSB). The PDB is overseen by an organization called the Worldwide Protein Data Bank, wwPDB. The PDB is a key resource in areas of structural biology, such as structural genomics. Most major scientific journals, and some funding agencies, now require scientists to submit their structure data to the PDB. 2. Pharmacogenomics: Pharmacogenomics is the study of the role of the genome in drug response. Its name (pharmaco- + genomics) reflects its combining of pharmacology and genomics. Pharmacogenomics analyzes how the genetic makeup of an individual affects his/her response to drugs. It deals with the influence of acquired and inherited genetic variation on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide polymorphism with pharmacokinetics ( distribution, metabolism, and elimination) and pharmacodynamics (effects mediated through a drug's biological targets). Pharmacogenetics focuses on single drug-gene interactions, while pharmacogenomics encompasses a more genome-wide association approach, incorporating genomics and epigenetics while dealing with the effects of multiple genes on drug response. 3. FASTA Format: In bioinformatics, FASTA format is a text-based format for representing either nucleotide sequences or peptide sequences, in which nucleotides or amino acids are represented using single-letter codes. The format also allows for sequence names and comments to precede the sequences. A sequence in FASTA format begins with a single- line description, followed by lines of sequence data. The definition line (defline) is distinguished from the sequence data by a greater-than (>) symbol at the beginning. The word following the ">" symbol is the identifier of the sequence, and the rest of the line is the description Q2) Explain Any One: 10 mks A) Write in detail about any two types of evidences for Evolution Anatomical – Homologous and analogous structures with suitable examples; vestigial structures Paleontological – Fossil records (including living fossils) Embryological – The "facts of embryology" A. There is usually a difference in form between embryo and adult. B. Serial structures (e.g., segments, limbs) are usually identical in the embryo, but specialized and diverged in the adult. Q.P. Code :20189 SYBSc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer key C. Different species in the same Class (e.g., mammals) often have very similar embryos, even if the adult forms are quite different. Multiple types of evidence support the theory of evolution: Homologous structures provide evidence for common ancestry, while analogous structures show that similar selective pressures can produce similar adaptations (beneficial features). Similarities and differences among biological molecules (e.g., in the DNA sequence of genes) can be used to determine species' relatedness. Biogeographical patterns provide clues about how species are related to each other. The fossil record, though incomplete, provides information about what species existed at particular times of Earth‘s history. Some populations, like those of microbes and some insects, evolve over relatively short time periods and can be observed directly. OR Q. 2 A What is Polymorphism? How does the process of Natural selection bring about changes in allelic frequency? Polymorphism is the occurrence of two or more clearly different morphs or forms, also referred to as alternative phenotypes, in the population of a species. To be classified as such, morphs must occupy the same habitat at the same time and belong to a panmictic population (one with random mating) Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. The neutral theory of molecular evolution holds that at the molecular level most evolutionary changes and most of the variation within and between species is not caused by natural selection but by genetic drift of mutant alleles that are neutral. Stabilizing, Directional, and Diversifying Selection Under stabilizing selection, extreme varieties from both ends of the frequency distribution are eliminated. The frequency distribution looks exactly as it did in the generation before. Under directional selection, individuals at one end of the distribution of beak sizes do especially well, and so the frequency distribution of the trait in the subsequent generation is shifted from where it was in the parental generation. This is what we usually think of as natural selection. Industrial melanism was such an example. Under diversifying (disruptive) selection, both extremes are favored at the expense of Q.P. Code :20189 SYBSc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer key intermediate varieties. This is uncommon, but of theoretical interest because it suggests a mechanism for species formation without geographic isolation Q2) B) Explain any two of the following: a) Study of evolution using a human genetic disease as an example. (The effect of mutation on evolution, explain the equation for change in frequency, use sickle cell anaemia, specify how it‘s not only mutation acting in these two diseases.) Natural selection is a process that removes variation from a population by favouring one allele over others at a genetic locus. However, if heterozygotes are favoured over homozygotes, then natural selection actually will tend to maintain variation in the population. Instead of tending to remove less successful alleles from a population, such heterozygote advantage will favour individuals with copies of both alleles, and thus will work to maintain both alleles in the population. Some evolutionary biologists believe that heterozygote advantage is pervasive and can explain the high levels of polymorphism observed in natural populations. Others, however, believe that it is relatively rare. Sickle Cell Anaemia The best documented example of heterozygote advantage is sickle cell anaemia, a hereditary disease affecting haemoglobin in humans. Individuals with sickle cell anaemia exhibit symptoms of severe anaemia and contain abnormal red blood cells which are irregular in shape, with a great number of long and sickle-shaped cells. The disease is particularly common among African Americans. This disorder, which affects roughly 3 African Americans out of every 1000, is associated with a particular recessive allele. Using the Hardy–Weinberg equation, you can calculate the frequency of the sickle cell allele in the African-American population; this frequency is the square root of 0.003, or approximately 0.054. In contrast, the frequency of the allele among white Americans is only about 0.001. Sickle cell anaemia is often fatal. Until therapies were developed to more effectively treat its symptoms, almost all affected individuals died as children. Even today, 31% of patients in the United States die by the age of 15. The disease occurs because of a single amino acid change, repeated in the two beta chains of the haemoglobin molecule. In this change, a valine replaces the usual glutamic acid at a location on the surface of the protein near the oxygen binding site. Unlike glutamic acid, valine is nonpolar (hydrophobic). Its presence on the surface of the molecule creates a ―sticky‖ patch that attempts to escape from the polar water environment by binding to another similar patch. As long as oxygen is bound to the haemoglobin molecule there is no problem, because the haemoglobin atoms shield the critical area of the surface. When oxygen levels fall, such as after exercise or when an individual is stressed, oxygen is not so readily bound to haemoglobin and the exposed sticky patch binds to similar patches on other haemoglobin molecules, eventually producing long, Q.P. Code :20189 SYBSc, Life Sciences Semester III, Paper III March 2018 Answer key fibrous clumps. The result is a deformed, ―sickle shaped‖ red blood cell. Individuals who are heterozygous or homozygous for the valine-specifying