Deck 3: Genetic Analysis of Behavior

Question 1

Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A) A regulatory protein may modify the activity of other genes.
B) Genes direct the synthesis of proteins.
C) Proteins may be either structural or regulatory.
D) There is a one-to-one correspondence between genes and behavior.

Answer 1

There is a one-to-one correspondence between genes and behavior.

Question 2

mRNA differs structurally from DNA in three ways. One of them is that in mRNA thymine must pair with

A) adenine.
B) cytosine.
C) guanine.
D) uracil.

Answer 2

uracil.

Question 3

mRNA must

A) be edited before it leaves the nucleus.
B) be joined by other segments of mRNA before it leaves the nucleus.
C) unzip before a protein can be formed.
D) zip itself into a single strand.

Answer 3

be edited before it leaves the nucleus.

Question 4

Alternative forms of a gene are called

A) alleles.
B) diploids.
C) heterozygotes.
D) homozygotes.

Question 5

Regulatory genes

A) are activated only in certain mutants.
B) are located in only a few of an animal's body cells.
C) determine when and where a protein will be produced.
D) have a less widespread effect than do structural genes.

Question 6

The regulatory gene fruitless (fru) affects nearly every aspect of courtship behavior in fruit flies by

A) altering the structures of nearly 90% of the fly's nervous system.
B) influencing the number of potassium channels in nerve cells.
C) producing white eyes rather than red.
D) responding to the number of X chromosomes present.

Question 7

Heritability is a measure that suggests how strongly a behavior is influenced by genes. Heritability

A) is a remarkably sensitive measure that requires only a small number of subjects.
B) is a ratio of variability caused by genetic differences to the total variability in a trait.
C) is a way to count the number of genes that control a particular behavior.
D) results in a value that may range from -10 to +10.

Question 8

If you were interested primarily in studying patterns of gene activity at different developmental stages, you would probably be described as doing work in

A) comparative genomics.
B) functional genomics.
C) heritability.
D) proteomics.

Question 9

Inbred lines are useful in separating the effects of genes from those of the environment by creating a population that

A) has a heritability index of almost exactly .50.
B) is homozygous for almost all of its genes.
C) is heterozygous for almost all of its genes.
D) all of the above.

Question 10

Demonstrating that a behavior has a genetic basis can be accomplished by

A) rearing different inbred strains under different conditions.
B) rearing different inbred strains under identical conditions.
C) rearing individuals of the same inbred strains underdifferentconditions.
D) rearing individuals of the same inbred strains under identical conditions.

Question 11

The offspring of a reciprocal cross between an inbred strain A mother and an inbred strain B father will have

A) different genotypes among themselves.
B) the same genotype as one another.
C) the same genotype as their inbred strain A mother.
D) the same genotype as their inbred strain B father.

Question 12

A way to determine whether maternal influences on offspring occur before or after birth is to

A) be sure that all offspring are heterozygous for the traits being studied.
B) conduct a reciprocal cross.
C) cross-foster the offspring.
D) hold the environments of the mothers constant.

Question 13

If the frequency of a trait in a population can be altered by choosing the appropriate breeders, it must have a genetic basis. This is the rationale for which of the following research techniques?

A) artificial selection
B) cross-fostering
C) hybridization
D) mosaic analysis

Question 14

Differences in, for example, behavior traits and hunting skills in different breeds of dogs have been produced by

A) artificial selection.
B) cross-fostering.
C) hybridization.
D) mosaic analysis.

Question 15

Lynch's research on nest-building in mice suggests that natural selection could have an influence on that behavior. This is based on evidence that

A) mice build larger nests in the South than in the North.
B) mice from lines that built larger nests raised more pups at 4°C than did mice from lines that built smaller nests.
C) mice from lines that built smaller nests raised more pups at 4°C than did mice from lines that built larger nests.
D) pup survival in both lines was reduced overall at colder temperatures.

Question 16

A number of studies on the fruit fly, D. melanogaster, have indicated that cAMP plays an important role in the flies' ability to learn, by looking at the behavior of dunce flies and of rutabaga flies. Dunce flies and rutabaga flies were the result of which of the following methodologies?

A) artificial selection studies
B) comparisons of inbred strains
C) finding natural variants and looking for genetic differences
D) inducing mutations and screening for changes in behavior

Question 17

Fruit flies (D. melanogaster) carrying the dunce mutation are extremely poor at olfactory learning. This is because the dunce mutation

A) causes them to fixate on a particular odor for up to 8 days.
B) interferes with the early stages of memory formation.
C) interferes with their ability to sense an aversive stimulus, such as electric shock.
D) produces defects in the olfactory sensory system.

Question 18

Some larval fruit flies (D. melanogaster), "rovers," move around continually on their food source and often leave one food source to look for another. Others, "sitters," travel only short distances and tend to remain on a single food source. Further, the differences in foraging activity have been determined to be related to differences in the enzyme PKG. These findings were based on which of the following methodologies?

A) artificial selection studies
B) comparisons of inbred strains
C) finding natural variants and looking for genetic differences
D) inducing mutations and screening for changes in behavior

Question 19

The nomination of a candidate gene is usually based on all EXCEPT which of the following techniques?

A) a search of the literature for genes known to be involved in producing a behavior similar to the one in question
B) a comparison of the sequence of the gene to the sequences of genes in another organism
C) a systematic examination of single genes until one scores a "hit"
D) Any of the above are commonly used.

Question 20

If a colony of honey bees is manipulated so that it contains very few foragers

A) many forager bees will switch to nursing behavior as much as two weeks early.
B) many nurse bees will switch to foraging behavior as much as two weeks early.
C) the colony dies within a few days.
D) the level of for gene activity drops dramatically.

Question 21

A technique to confirm whether a particular candidate gene underlies a behavior is to alter the gene's expression. This can be done by

A) increasing gene activity by adding copies of the gene (knocking in).
B) increasing gene activity by disabling genes (knocking out).
C) increasing gene activity by microarray analysis.
D) all of the above.

Question 22

A region of DNA associated with a particular quantitative trait is called a quantitative trait locus (QTL). Which of the following statements about QTL analysis is FALSE?

A) There are usually only a small number of QTLs associated with any complex behavior.
B) A goal of QTL research is to identify the many genes underlying a trait and the extent to which each of them alters the trait.
C) Once a QTL has been identified, that region of DNA can be sequenced and compared to a database of DNA containing genes whose functions are known.
D) QTL analysis can help to identify candidate genes.

Question 23

Whitfield and colleagues (2003) found that nurse and forager bees showed significant differences in the expression of 2,200 of the 5,500 genes analyzed in the study. Their study made use of which of the following techniques?

A) hybridization
B) knocked in genes
C) knocked out genes
D) microarray analysis

Question 24

The for gene that codes for PKG (an important cell signaling molecule) influences not only locomotion during foraging, but also readiness to respond to sucrose, and tendencies to habituate to repeated presentations of sucrose. This illustrates the principle that

A) a gene's activity may be modified by using RNAi.
B) genes operate in interacting networks.
C) one gene is usually dedicated to a particular, primary trait.
D) one gene usually affects several traits.

Question 25

Social recognition between female mice depends on the protein products of four genes. Research by Choleris and colleagues (2004) demonstrated that in any single group of knockout mice in which one of the four components was lacking

A) the mutant mice couldn't distinguish a familiar mouse from a stranger.
B) the mutant mice refused to leave their nest without a familiar companion.
C) the strength of the social bond was weakened by a factor of almost exactly 25%.
D) the strength of the social bond was unchanged.

Question 26

Prairie voles are monogamous; meadow voles are polygamous. It has been determined that male prairie voles have many more vasopressin receptors than do male meadow voles, and their receptors are concentrated in a reward system of the brain. Which of the following statements about voles is FALSE?

A) Coding sequences in the DNA of the vasopressin receptor gene of the two species of voles are 99% identical, thus the proteins produced by the gene in the two species is virtually identical.
B) Differences in DNA were found between the two species in the promoter region of the gene.
C) Different amounts of vasopressin surge in the brains of males of the two species following mating.
D) The male prairie vole associates the odor of his female mate with the feeling of reward.

Question 27

Lower levels of hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin have been found to be associated with human disorders such as

A) agoraphobia.
B) autism.
C) bipolar disorder.
D) depression.

Question 28

How quickly do immediate early genes become active once a nerve cell has responded to an appropriate stimulus?

A) milliseconds
B) minutes to hours
C) one day
D) one week

Question 29

Male cichlids may be either dominant or subordinate. Opportunities for a subordinate to rise in social status may occur rapidly, however, as when a dominant male is taken by a predator. Which of the following physical changes occurs first once the opportunity arises?

A) He acquires a territory.
B) He becomes brilliantly colored.
C) His body size increases.
D) His fertility level rises.

Question 30

The finding that zenk activity increased in song sparrows whose territorial boundaries had been challenged suggests that

A) genes have much less to do with the production of behavior patterns than we believed to be the case 25 years ago.
B) the environment can continuously alter gene activity and, therefore, modify an organism's behavior.
C) while the environment influences when a gene becomes active, once that has happened, environment plays little role in further repetitions of the behavior.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 31

Levels of zenk mRNA in male zebra finches FAILED to increase when the subject male was

A) first exposed to the recorded song of another male zebra finch.
B) exposed to a second, unfamiliar male zebra finch.
C) with repeated exposures to the recorded song of the other zebra finch.
D) In all of the above cases. (Recorded song doesn't stimulate zenk activity.)

Question 32

Epigenetics involves

A) a stable alteration in gene expression without changes in DNA sequence.
B) processes such as DNA methylation and histone acetylation.
C) the regulation of the way genes are expressed without changing the proteins they encode.
D) all of the above.

Question 33

DNA mythelation

A) consists of adding a methyl group to the cytosine bases in DNA.
B) makes the DNA less tightly coiled.
C) permanently alters gene expression in certain tissues once it has occurred.
D) renders gene expression easier.

Question 34

By the end of the first week of life, the promoter of a glucocorticoid receptor in the pups of neglectful rat mothers was more methylated than the same gene in pups of nurturing mothers. This means that

A) pups of neglectful and nurturing mothers had some differences in the structures of their chromosomes that occurred after birth.
B) the pups of the neglectful mothers displayed a lessened response to stressful stimuli.
C) the pups of the neglectful mothers possessed more glucocorticoid receptors than the pups of nurturing mothers.
D) all of the above occurred.

Question 35

DNA methylation patterns can be affected by environmental factors, cause disease, be transmitted through generations and, potentially, influence evolution. This is illustrated by findings that when male rat embryos are exposed to the fungicide vinclozolin, they later

A) are the preferred mating partners by female rats, whether or not the females have been exposed to vinclozolin themselves.
B) experience a reduced risk of adult onset diseases.
C) have disrupted endocrine systems.
D) show higher fertility rates than unexposed males.