BioMG1350 - Prelim 3 Practice exam

1. Which type of signaling uses membrane-bound signals?

A. Paracrine
B. Neuronal
C. Contact-dependent
D. Endocrine
E. More than one of the above

Indicate whether the following statements about cell signaling are TRUE OR FALSE.
2. Steroid hormone receptors elicit changes in cell behavior faster than those elicited by channel-coupled receptors.
(1=TRUE; 2=FALSE)

3. In order to stay alive, cells need to receive signals constantly. (1=TRUE; 2=FALSE)

4. Drugs can have secondary effects when they target components of a signal transduction pathway that control
multiple effectors within a cell. (1=TRUE; 2=FALSE)

5. Fill in the space in the following statement using one of the options below: “When two signals share a common
component of their intracellular signaling pathway, this common component is said to ___________ the two
signals to elaborate a single response.”
A. Relay.
B. Transduce.
C. Integrate.
D. Distribute.
E. Amplify.
6. At early embryonic stages, most cell signaling takes place through:
A. Paracrine and endocrine signaling.
B. Paracrine and contact-dependent signaling.
C. Induction.
D. Lateral inhibition and reaction-diffusion.
E. None of the above.

Indicate whether the following statements about signaling are TRUE OR FALSE.
7. (A-TRUE; B-FALSE) Wolpert’s frech flag model explains how two signals diffuse to determine multiple outcomes.
8. (A-TRUE; B-FALSE) Signals that function in a concentration-dependent manner are called morphogens.

9. Indicate which one of the statements below about the Nieuwkoop organizer is TRUE:
A. is a signaling center that controls mesoderm specification in frog embryos.
B. is induced by signals that emanate from Spemann’s organizer.
C. can influence the fate of cells in the mesoderm.
D. all of the statements above are true.
E. none of the statements above is true.

10. The position of bristles in the thorax of the fly …

A. is controlled by two signals.
B. depends on paracrine signaling.
C. is mediated by reaction-diffusion.
D. involves contact-dependent signaling.
E. is precisely controlled by a pre-pattern.

11. Which one of the following sequences represents a correct order of life cycle stages in flies?
A. cellularized blastoderm - retracted germ band - extended germ band.
BioMG1350 - Prelim 3 Practice exam

B. blastula - gastrula - pupa.

C. syncytial blastoderm - pupa - larva.
D. gastrula - cellularized blastoderm - retracted germ band.
E. none of the above sequences is in the right order.

12. Which one of the following embryonic defects in the body plan of the fruit fly will be caused by a mutation in a
pair-rule gene?
A. No segmentation would be evident.
B. Patterning within each segment would be abnormal, causing alterations in the arrangement of denticle belts
within the segment.
C. The identity of one or a few segments will be changed to that of a different segment/s.
D. Every other segment would be missing.
E. Several adjacent segments will be missing from an otherwise intact embryo.

13. Homeotic genes …

A. can encode signals, receptors or transcription factors.
B. start to be expressed at the syncytial blastoderm stage.
C. maintain segmental organization.
D. are regulated by segment polarity genes in mammals.
E. none of the above.

14. A graduate student has just discovered a new segment polarity gene in Drosophila (the blue gene) and sets up
an experiment to test the expression of two known segment polarity genes (the green and red genes) in embryos
that are mutant for his blue gene.
The left column in the figure represents the normal pattern of
expression of the green and red genes in a given segment of
the fly embryo, represented here as a square (A and P
indicate the anterior and posterior sides of the segment,
respectively). The column on the right represents the patterns
of expression that the graduate student obtains in his blue
mutants.
Based on these results, which one of the following
statements are TRUE?

A. the red gene regulates the green gene.

B. the blue gene represses the red gene.
C. the red gene regulates the blue gene.
D. the blue gene regulates the red gene.
E. there is not enough information to know.

15. A graduate student is investigating a gene that encodes a receptor for a paracrine signal. He just obtained a
mutant in this gene and sets up an experiment to see if the mutation causes any disruption in the pattern of the
embryo. What kind of defects do you think he is more likely to find?
A. autonomous effects.
B. non-autonomous effects.
C. there is not enough information to know.

▶ Indicate whether the anterior-posterior polarity in the organisms indicated below is specified before, at or after
fertilization:
16. C. elegans (A=before fertilization; B=at fertilization; C=after fertilization)
17. Drosophila (A=before fertilization; B=at fertilization; C=after fertilization)
18. Mouse (A=before fertilization; B=at fertilization; C=after fertilization)
BioMG1350 - Prelim 3 Practice exam

▶ TRUE OR FALSE. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false:
19. (A=true; B=false) Maternal-to-zygotic transition leads to egg activation.
20. (A=true; B=false) Early asymmetries established before fertilization regulate the expression of segment polarity
genes in frog embryos.
21. (A=true; B=false) Transcription of some maternal mRNAs does not happen until after fertilization.
22. (A=true; B=false) oocytes from all species contain transcripts and proteins synthesized from the maternal
genome A=true
23. (A=true; B=false) maternal transcripts are responsible for the rapid changes taking place upon fertilization.
B=false
24. (A=true; B=false) in Drosophila, proteins deposited in the egg before fertilization determine egg polarity, but in
other species, this is not the case.

▶ TRUE OR FALSE - Indicate whether the following statements about early frog development are true or false:
25. Eggs are polarized before fertilization along the dorso-ventral axis. (A=true; B=false)
26. The ventral side of the embryo corresponds to the site opposite the sperm entry site. (A=true; B=false)
27. Cortical rotation and displacement of dorsal determinants depends on the polarization of the oocyte microtubules
by the sperm centrioles. (A=true; B=false)
28. Cells that inherit dorsal and vegetal determinants will become specified as the Spemann organizer. (A=true;
B=false)
29. Cells that inherit dorsal determinants secrete morphogens that induce mesoderm. (A=true; B=false)