AP Biology Study Guide
Chapter 11: How Genes Are Controlled
Opening Essay
1. Explain how cloning can be used to help protect endangered species. Describe the risks and limits of cloning animals.
Control of Gene Expression
2. Describe and compare the regulatory mechanisms of the lac operon, trp operon, and operons using activators.
3. Explain how selective gene expression yields a variety of cell types in multicellular eukaryotes.
4. Explain how DNA is packaged into chromosomes. Explain how packing influences gene expression.
5. Explain how a cat’s tortoiseshell coat pattern is formed and why this pattern is only seen in male cats.
6. Explain how eukaryotic gene expression is controlled. Compare the eukaryotic gene expression mechanisms to those of prokaryotes.
7. Describe the process and significance of alternative DNA splicing.
8. Describe the significance of miRNA molecules.
9. Explain how mRNA breakdown, initiation of translation, protein activation, and protein breakdown regulate gene expression.
10. Explain how the control of gene expression in eukaryotic cells is analogous to thecontrol of water moving through the series of pipes that carry water from your local water supply to a faucet in your home.
11. Describe the roles of homeotic genes in development.
12. Explain how DNA microarrays can be used to study gene activity.
13. Explain how a signal transduction pathway triggers a specific response inside a target cell.
14. Compare the cell-signaling systems of yeast and animal cells.
Cloning of Plants and Animals
15. Describe the experiments that demonstrate that differentiated cells retain all of their genes.
16. Explain how nuclear transplantation can be used to clone animals.
17. Describe some of the practical applications of reproductive cloning.
18. Describe the process and goals of therapeutic cloning.
The Genetic Basis of Cancer
19. Explain how viruses, proto-oncogenes, and tumor-suppressor genes can each contribute to cancer.
20. Describe the main events in the development of colon cancer. Explain why the development of most cancers is a slow and gradual process.
21. Explain how mutations in ras or p53 proteins can lead to cancer.
22. Describe factors that can increase or decrease your risk of developing cancer.
Key Terms
C. Gay 1/08 Steamboat Springs High School AP Biology
activator
adult stem cell
alternative RNA splicing
Barr body
carcinogen
clone
differentiation
DNA microarray
embryonic stem cell (ES cell)
enhancer
gene expression
histone
homeotic gene
nuclear transplantation
nucleosome
oncogene
operator
operon
promoter
proto-oncogene
regeneration
regulatory gene
repressor
reproductive cloning
RNA interference (RNAi)
signal transduction pathway
silencer
therapeutic cloning
transcription factor
tumor-suppressor gene
X chromosome inactivation
C. Gay 1/08 Steamboat Springs High School AP Biology
C. Gay 1/08 Steamboat Springs High School AP Biology