Chapter 4.

Biology of the Cell Questions

These study guide questions are a tutorial aid designed to assist you in mastering the
course objectives, however you if memorize them and do not master the concepts they are
not an effective tool. Please ask if you have questions.
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What is the basic structural and functional unit of all living things? What is cytology?
Name the principle components of the cell membrane.
Describe the structure of the cell membrane according to the fluid mosaic model.
What molecules in the membrane serve as channels for water-soluble molecules and
ions?
5. What serves as biological markers that aids in cellular interactions?
6. What is meant when we say plasma membranes are selectively, or differentially,
permeable?
7. What is membrane transport? Name two types
8. Define diffusion. Is a membrane necessary for diffusion to occur?
9. Why is diffusion called a passive process?
10. What is carrier-mediated transport? What is facilitated diffusion? Which organic
compound enters the cell by facilitated diffusion?
11. What is filtration? Does it require energy?
12. What is the energy source (driving force) for diffusion?
13. What does a concentration gradient have to do with diffusion? Does net flow down
the concentration gradient continue indefinitely?
14. Why do we say that osmosis is a special type of diffusion? Is a membrane required?
Is it a passive process?
15. What is osmotic pressure?
16. What factors determine the diffusion rate of substances across the plasma membrane
17. What happens to a living cell (example the red blood cell) in an isotonic solution?
Hypotonic? Hypertonic? Explain what happens in each case. Is there movement of
water into or out of a cell in an isotonic solution?
18. What is the source of energy for active transport?
19. The most prevalent primary active transport mechanism is what?
20. What is the purpose of the sodium/ potassium pump? How many Na+ ions leave the
cell, how many K+ enter for each pumping of the pump?
21. What is secondary active transport? Vesicular transport?
22. Describe the other active processes whereby substances enter and leave cell through
bulk transport, endocytosis, exocytosis.
23. What is the cytoplasm of a cell? What is the cytosol?
24. Describe the structure ad function of the following cytoplasmic organelles:
ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulum (rough and smooth); golgi complex, mitochondria,
lysosomes, peroxisomes.
25. What is the primary function of rough endoplasmic reticulum? What does the golgi
complex do with the protein released from the rough ER?
26. What is the primary function of smooth endoplasmic reticulum?

27. What are flagella and cilia? Give an example of a flagellated human cell. What is the
function of the cilia in humans?
28. What is the name of the type of nuclear division whereby cells replicate themselves
and multiply?
29. Describe the phases of mitosis.
30. What is cytokinesis? What cell in the human loses its ability to reproduce when
mature?
31. During which phase of the cell life cycle will the DNA replicate?
32. What is a replicating fork? What is a leading and lagging strand? What is an Okazaki
fragment?
33. What does DNA polymerase do? What does DNA ligase do?
34. Replication of DNA is semi-conservative. What does this mean?
35. If one side of DNA reads c-c-g-g-a-a-t-t- what will the other side read?
36. What is the end result of replication?
37. What enzymes are required for replication?
38. What is a histone? What is a nucleosome?
39. What is the double helix?
40. Why is it important that the DNA duplicate itself before the cell divides?
41. When does the cell make a copy of DNA?
42. Describe DNA replication
43. What is the function of DNA?
44. Recall the structure of DNA ( chapter 2)
45. What is a nucleotide?
46. What is a triplet code? Where is it found? What does it code for?
47. Name the two major phases of protein synthesis.
48. Name the three types of RNA? Be able to tell the function of each and where they
take place.
49. What do we call the process by which the information encoded in a DNA strand is
copied by mRNA?
50. What is a condon? Where is it found?
51. Transcription cannot begin until a gene activating chemical called ______ does
what?
52. What enzyme oversees the synthesis of mRNA? What is mRNA made from?
53. What happens during posttranscriptional processing? What is the purpose of a cap
and tail on mRNA?
54. What are exons and introns? What edits out the unnecessary codons and rejoins the
exons?
55. If there are three nucleotides coding for each amino acid and there are 20 amino
acids, are there just 20 specific codons? If not how many are there?
56. What amino acid is the start codon? What nucleotides code for the stop codon?
57. mRNA and tRNA are involved in what part of protein synthesis?
58. Where does the above process take place? What is a functional ribosome?
59. tRNA brings a specific amino acid to the rRNA, where does it bind first? It then
moves to ___and exits where?

60. The complementary sequence of 3 nucleotides on the tRNA is called an__________.

Which end of the tRNA holds the amino acid? Which end of the tRNA is the
anticodon located?
61. Are the same nucleotides used in DNA and RNA?
62. All this talk about nucleotides, do you remember the monomer unit of ATP?
63. What is apoptosis?