1. What is the function of helicase?

A. It forms bonds between DNA nucleotides.

B. It adds new nucleotides to the DNA helix.

C. It forms the DNA helix.

D. It separates DNA strands.

2. What is a nucleosome?

A. The protein core of a chromosome

B. Histone proteins and DNA

C. A chain of ribosomes

D. The material within the nuclear membrane

3. Which enzyme removes the RNA primer during replication?

A. RNA primase

B. DNA polymerase I

C. DNA ligase

D. Helicase

4. What are pyrimidines in DNA?

A. Types of nucleotides

B. Types of base pairs

C. Types of sugars

D. Types of bases

5. Which events take place in DNA replication?

I. Formation of messenger RNA

II. Unwinding of DNA double helix
III. Formation of complementary strands by DNA polymerase

A. I and II only

B. I and III only

C. II and III only

D. I, II and III

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6. The diagram shows part of a molecule produced by replication of DNA. What is the significance of the
shaded and the unshaded regions?

A. The shaded parts are DNA and the unshaded parts are mRNA.

B. The shaded parts contain adenine and thymine and the unshaded parts contain guanine and
cytosine.

C. The shaded part is a codon and unshaded part is an anticodon.

D. One of the parts has been newly synthesized and the other was part of a pre-existing DNA
molecule.

7. The diagram below represents DNA replication. Some of the bases are indicated.

In which direction is the replication fork moving and which bases would be needed to replicate the
section of DNA shown?

Direction of movement of replication fork Bases needed

A. Left to right U, G and C
B. Right to left U, G and C
C. Left to right T, G and C
D. Right to left T, G and C

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8. What are the components of a DNA nucleotide?

A. Deoxyribose, a phosphate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

B. Ribose, a phosphate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or uracil

C. Deoxyribose, a nitrate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

D. Ribose, a nitrate and one of the bases: adenine, cytosine, guanine or thymine

9. During the process of replication, which bond(s) in the diagram of DNA below is/are broken?

3 6
4
1
7

A. 3

B. 4, 5

C. 1, 2, 6, 7

D. 1, 7, 4, 5

10. The diagram below shows the bases on a short section of DNA during replication. Identify the sequence
of bases on the new complementary strand labelled I in the diagram.
C
T

I
A
G
A

A. CTAG

B. CUAG

C. TCGA

D. AGCT

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11. A biochemist isolated and purified molecules needed for DNA replication. When some DNA was added
replication occurred, but the DNA molecules formed were defective. Each consisted of a normal DNA
strand paired with segments of DNA a few hundred nucleotides long. Which of the following had been
left out of the mixture?

A. DNA ligase

B. Helicase

C. Nucleotides

D. DNA polymerase

12. What is the function of DNA polymerase I?

A. To add appropriate nucleotides in the 3′  5′ direction

B. To remove the RNA primers and replace them with DNA

C. To join together the Okazaki fragments

D. To join together both strands of DNA to the histones

13. What is responsible for the conservation of the base sequence during DNA replication?

A. DNA polymerase working on one strand at the same time.

B. Unpaired bases always attracting their complementary nucleotides.

C. DNA helicase and polymerase are complementary.

D. Both strands are identical to each other.

14. What is one role of the element phosphorus?

A. It forms part of the structure of amino acids.

B. It forms part of the structure of fatty acids.

C. It forms part of the structure of ribose.

D. It forms part of the structure of nucleotides.

15. What type of bond holds the complementary base pairs together in a double helix of DNA?

A. Covalent bonds

B. Peptide bonds

C. Glycosidic bonds

D. Hydrogen bonds

16. In the structure of DNA what binds with cytosine?

A. Deoxyribose

B. Ribose

C. Thymine

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 D. Adenine

17. The diagram below represents a DNA nucleotide. What could the part labelled X represent?

A. Ribose

B. Uracil

C. Guanine

D. Phosphate

18. The drawing below shows a short section of a DNA molecule. What is labelled by I, II and III?

II

III

I II III
A. 3′ end purine hydrogen bond
B. 5′ end pyrimidine covalent bond
C. 3′ end pyrimidine hydrogen bond
D. 5′ end purine covalent bond

19. What is the composition of the backbone of DNA?

A. Alternating sugar and phosphate molecules

B. Complementary base pairs

C. Alternating sugar and base molecules

D. A polysaccharide

20. In an electron micrograph, a DNA molecule appears 1 mm wide. The magnification of the micrograph is
500 000. What is the width of the DNA molecule?

A. 0.5 nm

B. 2 nm

C. 0.5 m

D. 2 m
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21. Which substance is a base that is found in DNA?

A. Adenosine

B. Cytokinin

C. Guanine

D. Uracil

22. Which enzyme removes the RNA primer during replication?

A. RNA primase

B. DNA polymerase I

C. DNA ligase

D. Helicase

23. The diagram below shows a short section of DNA molecule before and after replication. If the
nucleotides used to replicate the DNA were radioactive, which strands in the replicated molecules would
be radioactive?

I
G C T A C
C G A T G
II
G C T A C
C G A T G
III
G C T A C
C G A T G
IV

A. II and III only

B. I and III only

C. I and II only

D. I, II, III and IV

24. To which parts of the deoxyribose molecule do phosphates bind in DNA?

V CH 2 OH
I
O H

IV
H H H OH

II

OH H
III

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 A. I and V

B. III and IV

C. II and III

D. III and V

25. Which of the following are connected by a hydrogen bond?

A. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms of a water molecule

B. A base pair of a DNA molecule

C. Two amino acid molecules of a dipeptide

D. Two glucose molecules in a disaccharide

26. Which of the following forms the nucleosome

A. DNA and histon molecules

B. DNA only

C. RNA and histone molecules

D. Histone molecules only

27. Which molecule is found in both DNA and RNA?

A. Ribose

B. Uracel

C. Phosphate

D. Amino acid

28. What is replicated by a semi-conservative process?

A. Messenger RNA (mRNA) only

B. Messenger RNA (mRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA) only

C. Messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA) and DNA only

D. DNA only

29. In what direction is DNA synthesised?

A. 5' to 3', by adding new nucleotides on the 3' end of the previous molecule

B. 3' to 5', by adding new nucleotides on the 3' end of the previous molecule

C. 3' to 5', by adding new nucleotides on the 5' end of the previous molecule

D. 5' to 3', by adding new nucleotides on the 5' end of the previous molecule