UNIVERSITY OF

CAMBRIDGE
NATURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS Part 1A

Tuesday 5 June 2001 9 to 12

BIOLOGY OF CELLS -THEORY

Answer Question 1 (Section A) and three questions from Section B.

Section A carries 33% of the marks and the Section B questions carry 67% of the
marks for this paper.

Answers from each Section must be tied up in separate bundles, -with the letter of
the Section written clearly on each cover sheet.
Write on one side of the paper only.
You may not start to read the questions
printed on the subsequent pages of this
question paper until instructed that you
may do so by the Invigilator___
UNIVERSITY OF
OF CAMBRIDGE

SECTION A (Suggested time: Not more than 1 hour; lengthy answers are not
required.

All parts of Question 1 carry equal marks).

1 .(a) What is a flux control coefficient?

(b) Describe the characteristics of telomeres.
(c) Define "active transport" and give an example of a transporter that mediates
active
transport.
(d) Outline the role of protein kinases in mitotic control.
(e) In what ways are chloroplasts and mitochondria similar to bacteria?
(f) What are second messengers and what role do they play in signal transduction
pathways?
(g) Write short notes on bacterial conjugation.
(h) What experiments would you do to test for cytoplasmic inheritance?
(i) What features of puromycin enable it to interfere with protein synthesis?
(j) Write short notes on polysaccharide diversity and disulphide bonds in proteins.
(k) What is a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)? Briefly describe
two
applications of RFLPs in human genetics.
(1) How are proteins imported into mitochondria and chloroplasts?
(m) ATP frequently couples energy-requiring reactions in the cell to those that
produce
energy. Why is ATP well suited to this role?
(n) Describe briefly experiments that test for pluripotency of cells and pluripotency
of
their nuclei.
(o) Briefly explain how non-photosynthetic cells make NADPH. Why do they need
to?
UNIVERSITY OF
CAMBRIDGE

SECTION B (All questions carry equal marks)

2. Discuss how physical maps of the human genome have been generated and their
value to the study of inherited disease.

3. How might cells learn where they are in the embryo?

4. Giving examples, describe the central role of Ca2+ in cell communication.

5. Discuss the mechanisms and consequences of viral infections of eukaryotic cells.

6. Compare and contrast the chemistry and structure of the α helix and the DNA
double helix.

7. Discuss the roles of trans-membrane ionic gradients in prokaryotes and

eukaryotes.

8. Gluconeogenesis is not simply the reversal of glycolysis. Discuss.

9. Write an essay describing Thomas Morgan Hunt's pioneering work on gene

mapping in Drosophila and assess its contribution to twentieth century genetics.
What advantages did Drosophila have over peas as an organism for genetic study?

10. What is the evidence that DNA replication in Escherichia coli is

semiconservative, semidiscontinuous, bidirectional and has a unique origin? How
is the accuracy of information in DNA maintained?

END OF PAPER