SJBO 2021 Questions and Answers

By Chua Ming Xiu, 4P206

Q1:
An estimated 1 in 20,000 people worldwide are born with oculocutaneous
albinism, which causes a reduction or complete lack of melanin in the skin and
eyes. The genetic disorder is caused by an autosomal recessive inheritance of the
abnormal gene.
a. Estimate the percentage of carriers of the recessive allele for oculocutaneous
albinism, assuming Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (2)
b. A lack of melanin results in a higher risk of developing skin cancer in
individuals. Describe 2 ways a proto-oncogene can be converted into an
oncogene. (2)
c. Tyndall scattering showed that fine pigments in a suspension absorbs light of
longer wavelengths, such as red light. Without melanin, the iris appears
translucent, and melanin exists as a brown-colored pigment. Suggest how
people may have blue-colored iris if no such blue pigment exists. (2)

Q2:
When the amygdala of the brain detects stress stimuli, the hypothalamus activates
the sympathetic nervous system. Epinephrine binds to a G-protein coupled receptor
and undergoes the cAMP pathway to activate protein kinase A and undergoes
phosphorylation cascade to activate glycogen phosphorylase which exerts its effect
on glycogen. Detail how the activation of the sympathetic nervous system leads to
the release of epinephrine and how glucose is released from the cells. (10)

Q3:
With advancements in the field of genetic engineering, novel techniques to create a
wide range of GMOs have been developed.
a. Predict and explain the rise or decline in insecticide and pesticide purchase
in the format of the table below: (4)

Pesticide Rise/decline in purchase Reason:

Herbicide Rise/decline in purchase Reason:
b. In the early 2000s the most prevalent trait in GMO plants was glyphosate
tolerance. Glyphosate is an ingredient in herbicides that interferes with the
shikimate pathway of any plants that absorbs it, preventing the production of
crucial amino acids.
i. Explain the importance of amino acids for plants. (1)
ii. Scientists isolated the gene encoding for an enzyme involved in the
shikimate pathway from the strain of bacteria Agrobacterium which
was resistant to glyphosate interference. Agrobacterium has the ability
to infect plant cells. Suggest how the gene was transferred to the corn
plant cells. (3)
c. Some GMO tomatoes are more resistant to pests in the environment. Explain
how this can pose a threat to crop biodiversity. (2)
d. Some cultivated plants do not need to be genetically modified as they
already possess primary defense mechanisms to ward off herbivorous
consumers. Nettles contain trichomes on the stems that release inflammatory
chemicals like histamine when in contact with skin. When a child touched
the nettle plant a few times, he cried and did not touch the nettle plant after
that. What kind of conditioning is this? (1)
Answers:
Question 1:
a:
Frequency of genotype (q2) = 0.00005
Frequency of allele (q) = sqrt(0.00005)
= 0.0071
Frequency of allele (p) = 1-0.0071
= 0.993
Frequency of carriers (2pq) = 2 x 0.993 x 0.0071
= 0.0141
= 1.41%
b: Any 2 points, maximum 2 marks.
Translocation of chromosomal fragments causes proto-oncogene to be adjacent to
an active promoter (1)/Mutation of tumor-suppressor genes that decreases normal
activity of proto-oncogene(1)/Mutation of proto-oncogene results in gene product
to be more active or resistant to degradation (1)/Increased transcription of genes in
cell (1)

c: Due to Tyndall scattering, red light is absorbed when it passes through the iris
which contains fine pigments of melanin (1). Shorter wavelengths of light such as
blue light (½) is scattered by melanin (½).

Question 2: Maximum 10 marks

Ganglionic neurons of the medulla of the adrenal gland secretes epinephrine (1)
that travels through the blood (½) to reach target organs/effectors (½) and binds to
the G-protein coupled receptors (½) in the cell membrane (½). This causes a
conformational change in the protein to activate it (½) and allows binding of a
G-protein (½) to the cytoplasmic side. ADP in the alpha-subunit (½) is displaced
by an ATP (½), causing an additional conformational change (½) and beta-gamma
dissociates (½). The G-protein diffuses across the cell membrane (½) with the lipid
tails to anchor to the membrane (½) and reaches adenylate cyclase (½), binding and
activating it (½). Adenylate cyclase catalyzes the conversion of ATP to cAMP(½),
which diffuses through cytosol (½) and binds to protein kinase 1/A/first (½),
causing a conformational change (½) and it phosphorylates protein kinase
2/A/second (½), resulting in a phosphorylation cascade (½) until it reaches
glycogen phosphorylase, activating it, causing the breakdown of stored glycogen
into glucose (½). Phosphorylation cascade is stopped when the phosphate group is
removed from protein kinases by protein phosphatase (½), while regulators of
G-proteins (RGs) catalyze hydrolysis of ATP, inactivating the G-protein (½) to stop
cellular response.

Question 3:
a: Pesticides → decrease as GMOs more resistant to pests
Herbicides → increase as GMOs more resistant to toxins in herbicides
bi: Amino acids makes up proteins (½) which are essential for tissue formation/
glutamate is used for chlorophyll synthesis (½)
bii: When bacteria infects the plant, it enters the host cells via endocytosis (1), and
gene fragment is cleaved from a plasmid containing gene for the enzyme (1) and
incorporated into host genome (½) by illegitimate recombination (½).
c: GMO tomatoes are more resistant to pests hence has a higher survivability as
compared to non-GMO tomatoes (½ ), hence has a higher chance of reproduction
to pass on its traits (1), resulting in stabilizing selection (½).
d: Operant conditioning