USABO 17 Open Exam - Final.web
USABO 17 Open Exam - Final.web
USABO 17 Open Exam - Final.web
1. A virus has been discovered. The virus has no envelope and consists of a helical capsid
surrounding its dsDNA genome. During assembly, the pac site of the genome ensures that it is
properly packaged by the capsomeres. Which of the following amino acids is/are expected to be
on the capsomere domain that interacts with the pac site?
A. Lysine.
B. Methionine.
C. Glycine.
D. Arginine.
E. A and D.
2. Developing diagnostics for the Zika virus has proven to be difficult due to cross reactivity
displayed by antibodies for other flaviviruses. If a person has been previously exposed to certain
flaviviruses (i.e. yellow fever or West Nile virus), then he/she may have antibodies which
diagnostics erroneously attribute to Zika virus exposure. The issue stems from antibodies that
resulted from a prior immune response. In the classic immune response, which cells are primarily
responsible for the production of antibodies?
A. Macrophages.
B. Eosinophils.
C. Plasma cells.
D. T lymphocytes.
E. Goblet cells.
3. The structure shown is an example of a(n)… (Select the BEST answer.)
A. Carbohydrate.
B. Lipid.
C. Nucleic acid.
D. Saturated lipid.
E. Unsaturated lipid.
K1 (µM-1/min)
Cell Type 1 8
Cell Type 2 16
5. You are observing the response of Type 1 and Type 2 cells to a specific protein ligand. Type 1 cells
proliferate rapidly in response to the ligand unlike Type 2 cells. Circle the option(s) from below
that can explain the observed difference.
A. The gene encoding the ligand specific receptor in Type 1 cells has a methylated promoter
B. Type 1 cells express intracellular receptors unlike Type 2 cells.
C. Type 1 cells express plasma membrane receptors unlike Type 2 cells.
D. Type 1 cells lack the transcription factor needed for the expression of the gene encoding the ligand
specific receptor.
E. The gene encoding the ligand specific membrane receptor in Type 1 cells has a frame-shift mutation
that generates a premature stop codon.
6. The following reactions are the free energy changes associated with four biological reactions.
Which reaction will have the highest ratio of products to reactants at equilibrium?
A. ΔG = -2.5 Kcal/mole.
B. ΔG = -1.5 Kcal/mole.
C. ΔG = +2.5 Kcal/mole.
D. ΔG = +1.0 Kcal/mole.
7. Which of the following is a plausible reason that explains why extreme halophiles can tolerate
high salt conditions?
A. They can accumulate compatible solutes, such as glycerol and sucrose, in their cytoplasm.
B. They can prevent the entrance of protons in their cytoplasm.
C. They have less porins or transport proteins, which makes them less permeable to solutes.
D. They have more saturated fatty acids in their membranes than unsaturated fatty acids.
E. They have more unsaturated fatty acids in their membranes than saturated fatty acids.
A. Cytosol.
B. Lysosome.
C. Mitochondrion.
D. Peroxisome.
E. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
9. Which statement about the life cycle of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is most
accurate?
A. The viral glycoproteins that coat the mature virion’s lipid envelope’s outer surface are synthesized by
host cell ribosomes in the cytosol.
B. The mature virus particle does not contain reverse transcriptase; the protein is translated from the
RNA genome after entry into the host cell.
C. If a scientist were to extract just the viral genome from HIV virions and inject the nucleic acid into a
human cell, the genome would integrate as a provirus into the host’s genome.
D. In HIV positive individuals, HIV provirus can be found latent in CD4 positive cells years after initial
infection.
E. The high error rate of reverse transcriptase enables the virus to evade the host’s circulating antibodies
by changing the antigenicity of its internal capsid protein.
10. The progression of cancer is often driven by genetic and epigenetic alterations. Which of the
following is not likely to contribute to tumorigenesis?
C3 plants C4 plants
A. Rubisco performs initial carbon fixation step PEPase performs initial carbon fixation step
C. RuBP initially accepts carbon diozide PEP initially accepts carbon dioxide
E. Spatial separation of carbon fixation and Temporal separation of carbon fixation and
photosynthesis photosynthesis
12. Grace is attempting to identify what organism a tissue sample came from. She finds linear
cellulose synthesizing complexes. Which of the following organisms could it have come from?
I. Plant
II. Charophycean
III. Green Alga
A. I only.
B. II only.
C. III only.
D. I and II.
E. II and III.
13. Which of the following statements about vascular plant anatomy is FALSE?
A. The bark is a coat of waxy suberin produced by the epidermis of woody plants.
B. Trichomes are modified epidermal cells, often resembling hairs, that some species have adapted to
reflect excess sunlight or to deter herbivorous insects.
C. The phloem is composed of live sieve-tube elements and companion cells.
D. Plant stems arise by the apical meristem’s production of nodes (regions where leaves and other
appendages are attached) separated by internodes (regions where most of the stem elongation
occurs).
E. In flowering plants, the xylem and phloem form a vascular cylinder that runs down the center of the
root.
A. Some plants are able to grow in low soil pH by secreting anions, such as citrate or oxalate that can
chelate toxic calcium ions (Ca2+) and prevent their absorption by roots.
B. High soil pH can prevent plants from absorbing Ca2+ ions due to Al3+ ions solubilizing at high pH.
C. At a soil pH of 8 or greater, the iron (Fe2+) needed by plants is unavailable.
D. Anions such as phosphate and sulfate bind to soil particles and are not easily leached from the soil.
E. Atmospheric nitrogen and nitrogenous compounds in the humus are the first and second most
important reservoirs of bioavailable nitrogen for plants in most habitats.
15. Consider the following experiment similar to those first performed in the 1950’s. Individual
Arabidopsis thaliana plants are grown in a hydroponic solution (without soil). Some plants
(Group A) are grown in water labeled (20%) with oxygen-18 and atmospheric air with unlabeled
CO2, while others (Group B) are grown in unlabeled water and atmospheric air with 50% of the
CO2 labeled with oxygen-18. Gases produced by the plant are collected for 20 minutes. After 1
day, the following are analyzed for oxygen-18 content: the collected gas, tissue from the plants,
and tissue from the plants baked until dry. The results are as follows, where a + indicates a
statistically significant enrichment and a - indicates no enrichment:
Group A + - -
(H2O labeled)
Group B - + +
(CO2 labeled)
Assuming that the detailed mechanisms of photosynthesis have not yet been discovered, what
would be concluded about photosynthesis from this experiment?
A. The oxygen atoms in plant sugars (or other organic compounds) are derived from water.
B. The oxygen atoms in the CO2 produced by plant respiration originated from water.
C. The oxygen atoms in the labeled CO2 were incorporated into plant sugars (or other organic
compounds) only.
D. Oxygen (O2) is formed from the splitting of water during photosynthesis.
E. The oxygen in the labeled CO2 was released as O2.
16. One day, you discover a mysterious blue dye in dusty old cabinet at the end of your lab bench.
After experimentation, you realize that your dye binds to acidic solutions. You apply this dye to
some plant specimens and find that certain parts of cell are especially dyed. Out of the following
four choices you find that exactly two of them bind to your dye. Which of the following bind to
your dye? Choose ALL that apply.
A. Thylakoid lumen.
B. Chloroplast stroma.
C. Cell cytosol.
D. Mitochondria matrix.
2017 USABO Open Exam Page 5
17. In your laboratory, you have Arabidopsis thaliana in pot A and pot B. You water the Arabidopsis
in pot A each day and keep it in very limited sunshine. For the Arabidopsis in Pot B, you add salt
to the soil and expose it to very strong sunshine with very limited water. You measure the water
potential of plants in both pots at the root, stems and the leaves. Select ALL the following
statements about the plants that are TRUE.
A. In the plant in pot B, since there is salt in the soil, the water potential in the root is lower than the
water potential in the stem.
B. In the plant in pot B, since there is a lot of evaporation in the leaves, the water potential of the leaves
is lower than the water potential of the stems.
C. Water typically moves from lower potential to higher potential.
D. In the plant in pot A, the potential of the leaves is higher than the potential of the stem as there is
little evaporation from the sun.
18. Which of the following statements about eudicot plant anatomy is most accurate?
A. The phelloderm is a thin layer of parenchyma cells derived from the vascular cambium.
B. Lateral roots arise from the pericycle and push through the cortex, endodermis, and epidermis during
their growth.
C. Secondary growth refers to growth of a branch once all primary growth along that given branch has
finished.
D. One may distinguish leaves from the leaflets of a compound leaf by the absence or presence,
respectively, of an axillary bud at the base of the structure in question.
E. Secondary phloem develops along the outer circumference of primary phloem during secondary
growth.
20. One of your colleagues is attempting to isolate the receptor for testosterone. He decides to copy
your protocol for isolating the receptor for epinephrine by radiolabeling the hormone, isolating
the membrane fraction, and purifying radioactive protein complexes. Realizing that your
colleague has probably not slept in days, you review the experimental procedure to ensure that it
actually works. Which one of the following is a reason why your colleague’s experiment would
not work?
A. Serotonin.
B. Epinephrine.
C. Dopamine.
D. Norepinephrine.
E. None of the above.
22. An animal experiences an acid-base imbalance in the arterial blood that results in respiratory
alkalosis. To decrease pH toward normal, which direction would the ventilation rate be changed
and what would be the corresponding change in arterial PCO2?
23. Select all of the following choices that correctly match the tissue to the embryonic germ layer
from which it is primarily formed (Select ALL that apply ):
The hormone with its concentration plotted is released from which of the following glands?
A. Adrenal medulla.
B. Anterior pituitary gland.
C. Hypothalamus.
D. Pineal gland.
E. Posterior pituitary gland.
25. In Graves’ disease, abnormal antibodies that activate the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH, or
thyrotropin) receptor are made by the patient’s plasma cells. TSH stimulates thyroid follicular
cells to grow and produce hormones. Using this information and your knowledge of thyroid
hormone regulation, which of the following statements would one expect an individual with
advanced Grave’s disease to possess (Select ALL that apply )?
A. The individual would have a high body temperature and substantial weight loss.
B. The individual would have an enlarged thyroid gland.
C. The individual would have high levels of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH).
D. The individual would have high levels of TSH.
E. The individual would have high levels of thyroxine.
A. Light microscopy video shows that frog sarcomere shortens during contraction and slightly increases
in diameter.
B. When myosin filaments fixed to a glass slide (and fluorescently labeled red) are exposed to a solution
of purified actin filaments (labeled green) in the presence of ATP, red and green filaments are seen in
the microscope to glide past each other.
C. Light microscopy of a contracting sarcomere reveals that the I bands of the sarcomere shortened,
while the A bands did not.
D. X-ray crystallography of live, relaxed muscle indicates that filaments of two different diameters are
intermixed in a regular hexagonal pattern when the sarcomere is viewed end-on.
E. An electron micrograph shows both actin and myosin organized into long protein filaments at all
points throughout the entire length of one myofibril.
Which of the following physiologic changes would increase the fluid volume of the interstitial
space of tissues? Select ALL where the change will increase the fluid volume of the interstitial
space.
A. Scarring of and decreased albumin synthesis by the liver from chronic alcohol abuse.
B. Constriction of a precapillary smooth muscle sphincter upstream of the capillary bed.
C. The release of histamine and cytokines that increase capillary permeability.
D. Formation of a thrombus downstream of the capillary bed.
E. Severe protein malnourishment, such as in the condition kwashiorkor.
28. Select ALL of the following parts of the nephron where water is reabsorbed from the filtrate:
A. Collecting duct.
B. Proximal tubule.
C. Bowman’s capsule.
D. Ascending limb of loop of Henle.
E. Descending limb of loop of Henle.
29. You are performing an experiment on neural embryonic development, and you decide to knock
out a gene that leads to the normal formation of the metencephalon. Select ALL of the following
structures in the CNS that would be affected:
A. Cerebellum.
B. Basal nuclei.
C. Midbrain.
D. Pons.
E. Medulla.
31. Which of the following best represents the type of mimicry characteristic of multiple poisonous
butterflies having similar coloration?
A. Mertensian mimicry.
B. Müllerian mimicry.
C. Batesian mimicry.
D. Wasmannian mimicry.
E. Vavilovian mimicry.
32. Optimal foraging can depend on the densities of different food sources. Assuming the goal is to
maximize the rate of food acquisition, how might this relationship manifest (Select ALL that
apply )?
A. In a clustered distribution, a greater distance between clusters translates to more time spent at each
cluster.
B. In a clustered distribution, a greater distance between clusters translates to less time spent at each
cluster.
C. A less prevalent prey species which is easier to eat than a more prevalent species can be preferred.
D. A more prevalent prey species which is harder to eat than a less prevalent species can be preferred.
E. Ignoring certain prey on a hunting trip may be the optimal strategy.
33. You wish to understand the nature of birds’ song and divide a group of baby birds of the same
species into three groups─ Control Group, Experimental Group I, and Experimental Group II.
The Control Group is reared with their species and sings this species’ song. The Experimental
Group I is placed with a different bird species with a different song and never learns to sing the
different species’ song. Experimental Group II is raised with no parents for the first week, they
sing no song even when re-wilded with the control birds at a relatively young age. Which of the
following best describes these birds behavior with respect to singing (Select ALL that apply )?
A. Learned.
B. Innate.
C. Has a Critical Period.
D. Plastic.
E. Automimicry.
35. Retinoblastoma protein (pRb) prevents the G1-> S transition when it is active. You are analyzing
the cell cycle of a somatic cell (2n). What is the DNA content of a mutant somatic cell that has a
constitutively active pRb?
36. Consider a diploid snail species that has 34 chromosomes (2n = 34). This species has an XX/XY-
like sex determination system, with males hemizygous for a particular locus on chromosome 2.
Without considering crossing over, how many genetically unique individuals can one pair of
snails potentially produce when reproducing sexually?
A. 68.
B. 234 × 234.
C. 2 × 342.
D. 217 × 217.
E. It is impossible to know.
37. Unlike the eukaryotes, there is only one origin of replication (ori site) in the bacterial genome. If
DNA polymerase enzyme adds nucleotides at the rate of 10,000 base pairs/minute in one
direction and the bacterial cells replicate their entire genome every 20 minutes, what is the size
of the bacterial genome?
Assuming that each sequence consists of 300bp, could be sequenced from either the forward or
reverse strand of the DNA, and for simplicity, that all sequences were of good quality, indicate if
each of the following statements is TRUE (Use A) or FALSE (Use B):
38. Since Sample 4 has the most sequence read, Sample 4 has the most bacterial diversity.
39. Sample 26 contains two particular sequences, one starts with ATGCGACTACG and the other
ends with CGTAGTCGCAT. These could not represent identical bacterial strains.
40. Errors during the labeling steps resulting in two transition mutations in the barcode for Sample
26 could result in the same barcode used for Sample 4.
5'-ACGUACUGU-3'
A. TYC.
B. CYT.
C. RVT.
D. TVR.
E. TY*..
43. John has Downs Syndrome. At a given locus on chromosome 21 in a region with low crossover,
John’s genotype is ACC. At this same locus, his father has genotype AC and his mother BC. In
which stage of his parents’ meiosis could nondisjunction have occurred (Select ALL that apply )?
45. Which set of organisms is correctly paired with a habitat inhabited by all organisms in the set?
46. Which of the following climates describes that of the chaparral biome?
A. Precipitation < 30 cm/year. Wide temperature variation on daily and yearly time scales.
B. Precipitation 150 to 200 cm/year, 6-7 month dry season. Temperature 25 to 29°C with little seasonal
variation.
C. Precipitation 30 to 50 cm/year, seasonal with cool, rainy winters and long, dry summers. Winter
temperatures 10 to 12°C.
D. Precipitation 30 to 100 cm/year, seasonal with dry winters and wet summers. Winter temperatures
can fall to -10°C.
E. Precipitation 70 to 200 cm/year, year-round. Winter temperature around 0°C with snow, summer
temperature 35°C.
47. You have been recently studying a small alien ecosystem that is near you. The ecosystem
consists of trogs that eat brogs that eat progs. Progs produce energy from the sun. Given that
there is 190kJ worth of biomass of progs, approximately how much energy does the biomass of
trogs represent?
A. 1900J
B. 3800J
C. 19000J
D. 38000J
48. Select ALL of the following that correctly match the species to its survivorship curve and survival
strategy:
A. Monotremata.
B. Chiroptera.
C. Rodentia.
D. Lagomorpha.
E. Sirenia.
50. Chef Grace is trying to experience the taste of dolphin without actually eating dolphin. She
presumes that taste is evolutionary and changes much the same way genes do. Which of the
following organisms should she eat based on this hypothesis?
A. Elephant
B. Bighorn Sheep
C. Manatee
D. Lemur
E. Koala