Explain the process of site-directed mutagenesis, and discuss some applications of this technique
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Site-directed mutagenesis involves changing individual nucleotides at precise locations within a sequence in vitro. Using short synthetic oligonucleotides (primers) with a mismatched base pair, the mutation site will be amplified with several rounds of PCR. An application to this method is to change nucleotides so that certain amino acids are changed. This circumvents issues associated with codon bias when cloning a gene into a host with a different codon usage pattern. Changing specific nucleotides could also change the recognition site for a restriction endonuclease to either create or remove a specific restriction site. A third application is to introduce several point mutations for the disruption of a gene to study its loss in phenotype and therefore identify its function.
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In the mid-nineteenth century Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace observed many organisms
Based on these observations they arrived to an explanation on how populations change through time. They termed it:
a. evolution. b. natural selection. c. creationism. d. natural evolution. e. genetics.
Bacteria able to perform the NH4+ + NO2- ? N2 + 2H2O reaction have been discovered in laboratory bioreactors and wastewater treatment systems. Researchers predicted that these bacteria should exist in oceans
They measured the concentration of NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, and O2 in the Black Sea as a function of water depth (M. Kuypers et al. 2003 Anaerobic ammonium oxidation by anammox bacteria in the Black Sea. Nature 422:608-11 ) to determine where in the sea the bacteria might live. Analyzing data presented in the figure above, at what depth would you expect to find the bacteria? (Note: In the figure, different scales are used to show concentrations of NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, and O2.) A) in the top 50 meters B) at a depth of 75 meters C) at a depth of 92 meters D) below 100 meters
The reticulum
A) is a support network of skeletal tissue fibers. B) originates in the bone marrow. C) interconnects nearby cells. D) meshes with the massive skeletal tissue network surrounding all organs.
What organism is most likely to use anaerobic respiration?
a) bird b) moss c) tree d) yeast