Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression

Nombre _____________________________________________________________________________

1. Operator constitutive mutants of the lac operon would

a. express the lac repressor constitutively.
b. block the binding of RNA polymerase to the promoter.
c. express b-galactosidase constitutively.
d. prevent the inducer from binding to the repressor.

2. Which of the following statements regarding the E. coli two-component PhoR/PhoB regulatory system
is (are) true?
a. PhoB has kinase activity.
b. PhoB is a cytosolic protein.
c. Phosphorylated PhoB is an inactive transcriptional activator.
d. none of the above

3. How does binding of the lac repressor to the lac operator block transcription initiation?
a. lac repressor binding blocks RNA polymerase from interacting with DNA at the start site
b. lac repressor binding induces a DNase that cleaves the DNA at the transcription start site
c. lac repressor binding causes a conformational change in RNA polymerase
d. lac repressor binding induces a protease that degrades the sigma subunit of RNA polymerase

4. Most eukaryotic genes are controlled at the level of

a. transcription initiation.
b. transcription elongation.
c. transcription termination.
d. translation initiation.

5. Which of the following is not a step in the run on transcription assay?

a. isolation of nuclei
b. incubation with 32P-labeled ribonucleoside triphosphate
c. exposure of cells to a labeled RNA precursor
d. hybridization of labeled RNA to cloned cDNAs

6. All of the following statements about the essential carboxy terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase
are true except
a. The CTD is present in RNA polymerase I, II, and III.
b. The CTD can become phosphorylated.
c. The CTD is critical for viability.
d. The CTD of mammals contains more than 50 repeats of a heptapeptide.

7. An enhancer
a. is a DNA element that stimulates transcription of eukaryotic promoters.
b. binds to RNA polymerase and stimulates transcription.
c. acts as a binding site for RNA polymerase.
d. interacts with repressor proteins to enhance transcriptional repression.

8. The TATA box

a. serves as a promoter sequence for genes transcribed by RNA polymerase III.
b. is located approximately 100 base pairs upstream of the start site for mRNAs.
c. is present in all eukaryotic genes.
d. acts to position RNA polymerase II for transcription initiation.
 Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression

9. All the following elements can function as eukaryotic promoters except

a. a TATA box.
b. an initiator element.
c. CpG islands.
d. an enhancer.

10. Which of the following is not used in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA)?
a. a radiolabeled DNA fragment
b. a polyacrylamide gel
c. a DNA binding protein
d. DNase I

11. Which of the following proteins does not “footprint” the lac operon control region?
a. lac repressor
b. b-galactosidase
c. RNA polymerase
d. cAMP-CAP

12. All the following statements about the Wilms’s tumor (WT1) gene or WT1 protein are true except
a. Loss-of-function WT1 protein leads to the development of kidney tumors.
b. The WT1 protein has a zinc finger binding domain.
c. WT1 protein is a transcription activator.
d. WT1 binds to the control region of the EGR1 gene.

13. A leucine zipper motif contains

a. a stretch of five leucine residues in a row.
b. a leucine residue at every seventh position.
c. a leucine residue complexed with a zinc ion.
d. an alternating leucine-alanine-proline structure.

14. Which of the following is not a structural motif found in a DNA-binding domain?
a. homeodomain
b. zinc-finger
c. helix-loop-helix
d. random-coil acidic domain

15. Which of the following is the correct order of binding of general transcription factors to initiate
transcription at RNA polymerase II promoters?
a. TFIID, TFIIB, Pol II, TFIIH
b. PolII, TFIID, TFIIB, TFIIH
c. TFIIB, PolII, TFIIH, TFIID
d. TFIID, TFIIH, TFIIB, PolII

16. What is the function of TFIIH in the transcription initiation complex?

a. binding to the TATA box
b. unwinding the DNA duplex
c. catalyzing the synthesis of RNA
d. all of the above

17. All the following statements about heterochromatin are true except
 Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression

a. Heterochromatin stains more darkly with DNA dyes than does euchromatin.
b. Heterochromatin contains more highly condensed DNA than does euchromatin.
c. Heterochromatin is associated with inactive genes.
d. Heterochromatin is more susceptible to DNaseI than is euchromatin.

18. All of the following events play a role in yeast mating type switching except
a. methylation of the silent-mating-type locus.
b. transcription of the gene at the MAT locus.
c. chromatin condensation at the silent mating type locus.
d. a recombination event known as gene conversion.

19. The mediator complex

a. can form a molecular bridge between activators of transcription and DNA replication machinery.
b. can function to maintain a promoter in a hypoacetylated state.
c. has histone acetylase activity.
d. none of the above

20. Transcriptionally inactive genes

a. are always located within euchromatin.
b. are not located within nucleosomes.
c. often are methylated.
d. are not resistant to DNase I.

21. Lipid soluble hormones activate transcription by

a. binding to specific cell-surface receptors.
b. phosphorylating a protein kinase.
c. binding to a nuclear receptor.
d. inhibiting a histone deacetylase.

22. Which protein domains are found in nuclear-receptor family members?

a. variable region, DNA-binding domain, ligand-binding domain
b. acetylase domain, DNA-binding domain, ligand-binding domain
c. variable region, acetylase domain, ligand-binding domain
d. variable region, DNA-binding domain, acetylase domain

23. Regulation of transcription by steroid hormones

a. involves hormone receptors normally found in the nucleus.
b. involves cytoplasmic hormone receptors that can move to the nucleus.
c. involves two ligase domains.
d. always activates transcription.

24. Which of the following statement(s) regarding the transcription initiation and RNA Pol III is (are)
true?
a. ATP hydrolysis is not required for initiation.
b. Pol III is responsible for synthesizing tRNAs and 5S-rRNA.
c. The promoter elements of tRNA genes lie entirely within the transcribed sequence.
d. all of the above
 Transcriptional Control of Gene Expression

Nombre _____________________________________________________________________________

1. Describe the similarities and differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic RNA polymerases.

2. Describe the structure and function of the carboxy terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II.

3. What is the functional difference between enhancers and promoter proximal elements?

4. Describe how the electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) and the DNase I footprinting
techniques are used to identify DNA-protein interactions.

5. What is an enhancesome?

6. How can transcription factors be purified using sequence-specific DNA-affinity chromatography?

7. Describe the structure and function of a zinc-finger motif.

8. Describe the structure of the RNA polymerase II transcription initiation complex.

9. Describe the functional properties of TFIID and TFIIH.

10. Describe the role of histone deacetylation and hyperacetylation in yeast transcriptional control.

11. Describe how lipid soluble hormones, glucocorticoid for example, regulate gene transcription acting
through nuclear hormone receptors.

12. Describe the mechanism of transcriptional control for the heat shock genes. What advantage does this
type of control impart to the cell?