Self-Assessment
Note: There may be more than one correct answer to a question.
1. How do epigenetic processes influence phenotype?
A. By changing the primary sequence of DNA
B. By altering gene expression
C. By displacing core histones from nucleosomes
D. By causing gene duplication
2. Where in mammalian genomes are DNA methyla-
tion marks found?
A. On guanine residues (G) when these are followed
by a thymine residue (T), i.a GpT dinucleotide
B. On thymine residues (T) when these are fol-
lowed by an adenine residue (A), i.a TpA
dinucleotide
C. On adenine residues (A) when these are followed
by a cytosine residue (C), i.an ApC dinucleotide
D. On cytosine residues (C) when these are followed
by a guanine residue (G), i.a CpG dinucleotide
3. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. MicroRNA inhibit gene expression by comple-
mentary base pairing to target messenger RNA
(mRNA)
B. Uniquely among RNA species, microRNA are
never polymorphic
C. MicroRNA encode small regulatory proteins
D. MicroRNA are synthesised in the mitochondria
using the maternally derived mitochondrial DNA
as the template
4. Which of the following statements is incorrect?
A. Acetylation of histones is usually associated with
inhibition of gene expression
B. Individual lysine residues within histone tails can
be covalently modified by addition of three methyl
groups
Answers to Multiple-Choice Questions: 1(B), 2(D), 3(A), 4(BD) and 5(C).
Nutrition Research Methodologies, First Edition. Edited by Julie A Lovegrove, Leanne Hodson, Sangita Sharma and Susan A Lanham-New.
2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
www.wiley.com/go/nutritionsociety
NRM Ch 14 web questions.indd 1
C. In nucleosomes, the DNA is wrapped around
eight histone molecules
D. The linker histone H1 locks DNA in place on the
nucleosome
5. Which of the following approaches can be used to
characterise and quantify post-translational marks
on histones?
A. Methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction
(MSP)
B. Methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting
(MS-HRM)
C. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChiP)
D. Quantification of 5-formylcytosine (5fC)
Short answer questions
1. Summarise the main epigenetic marks and molecules
found in mammals.
2. Outline the principles on which two approaches for
quantifying global DNA methylation are based.
3. Why is bisulphite modification of DNA a useful
starting point for assessment of DNA methylation?
Essay titles
1. Discuss the role of the epigenome in determining
phenotype.
2. Discuss the relationship between patterns of cytosine
modifications in DNA and gene expression.
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