Practice Questions

The mass of a gene depends on its length; longer nucleotide sequences contain more base pairs, increasing the total molecular weight.

Enhancers are regulatory DNA sequences that bind activator proteins, interacting with the promoter to boost transcription.

The Watson-Crick model shows DNA as a right-handed double helix, where two complementary strands twist around a central longitudinal axis.

A premature stop codon halts translation early, yielding an incomplete, truncated polypeptide chain that is usually non-functional.

Eukaryotic chromosomes are highly organized nucleoprotein complexes made of a single linear DNA molecule wound around structural histones.

Electrostatic hydrogen bonds form between the partially positive hydrogen atoms and partially negative oxygen or nitrogen atoms of matching bases.

Silent mutations alter the codon sequence without changing the translated amino acid, leaving the protein's function uncompromised.

The terminator is a distinct downstream regulatory sequence that signals RNA polymerase to stop transcription and detach.

Because the genetic code is nearly universal, organisms share the same codon-to-amino acid rules, making recombinant DNA tech possible.

Ribosomes serve as the structural and catalytic factories where tRNA molecules match codons to assemble amino acids into a protein.