Question 1

Which of the following is a major advantage of using tissue culture in plant biotechnology?

Accepted Answer

It allows for mass propagation of plants with desired qualities.

Question 2

Which step in the tissue culture process is primarily responsible for removing microorganisms from the explant?

Accepted Answer

Sterilization

Question 3

A researcher wants to introduce a gene for drought resistance into a crop plant. Which plant transformation system would be most appropriate if the plant is not susceptible to Agrobacterium tumefaciens?

Accepted Answer

Gene gun (particle bombardment)

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the function of the Cas9 protein in the CRISPR/Cas9 system?

Accepted Answer

It acts as a nuclease, creating double-stranded breaks in DNA.

Question 5

What is the main difference between non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR) following a CRISPR/Cas9-induced double-stranded break?

Accepted Answer

NHEJ often results in insertions or deletions (indels), while HDR can introduce specific sequences using a template.

Question 6

Which of the following is a limitation of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in gene editing?

Accepted Answer

It may cause off-target effects, editing unintended regions of the genome.

Question 7

Which sequencing technology is most suitable for sequencing long DNA fragments and can directly detect modified bases, but has a higher error rate?

Accepted Answer

Nanopore sequencing

Question 8

A geneticist is mapping the location of genes based on recombination frequencies. Which type of map is being constructed?

Accepted Answer

Genetic (linkage) map

Question 9

Which of the following best defines a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)?

Accepted Answer

A site in the genome where individuals differ by a single base pair.

Question 10

In a genome-wide association study (GWAS), why are tag-SNPs useful?

Accepted Answer

They allow researchers to identify haplotypes without genotyping every SNP.

Question 11

Which of the following is a real-world application of metagenomics?

Accepted Answer

Identifying unculturable microbes in soil to improve agricultural practices.

Question 12

Which of the following steps is unique to Illumina (second-generation) sequencing compared to Sanger sequencing?

Accepted Answer

Amplification of millions of DNA fragments on a flow cell.

Question 13

A plant biotechnologist wants to confirm that a gene of interest has been successfully inserted into a plant genome. Which technique would be most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

PCR amplification using gene-specific primers

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a step in the process of plant tissue culture?

Accepted Answer

Gene gun transformation

Question 15

Which of the following best describes the principle of Sanger sequencing?

Accepted Answer

Sequencing by chain termination using dideoxynucleotides.

Question 16

Which of the following is a key challenge in plant transformation systems?

Accepted Answer

Ensuring the new gene is delivered into the cell nucleus and inserted into a chromosome.

Question 17

Which of the following statements about physical and genetic maps is correct?

Accepted Answer

Genetic maps provide rough approximations of gene locations based on linkage analysis.

Question 18

Which of the following is a direct application of SNP analysis in medicine?

Accepted Answer

Identifying genetic variants associated with increased risk for Crohn disease.

Question 19

Which of the following best describes the modernization of the CRISPR-Cas system for genome editing?

Accepted Answer

It uses a single guide RNA (sgRNA) that combines crRNA and tracrRNA functions.

Question 20

Which of the following is a key feature of metagenomics that distinguishes it from traditional microbiology?

Accepted Answer

It allows for the study of entire microbial communities directly from environmental samples.

Week 5 class slides

Study Guide - Practice Questions

Study Guide - Flashcards