Genetics Exam

Department of Molecular & Cell Biology

Course Code: MCB3019F Course Name: Recombinant DNA, genomics & proteomics
Paper: 1 Date: 11 June 2008
No. of pages: 5 Marks: 110
Time: 3 Hours Venue: LS 2A
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Additional: Supplemental Figure Sheet Time: 12:30 p.m.
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ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS
In the interest of economy please write on both sides of the exam script
Please answer each section in a different answer book.
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A/Prof V. Coyne Recombinant DNA 20 Marks

Question 1 20 marks
Bacterial strains isolated from the abalone digestive system hydrolyse a variety of seaweed polysaccharides, indicating that they may play an important role in seaweed digestion in the perlemoen Haliotis midae. A Pseudomonas species, isolated from the crop of H. midae, has been selected for further study due to its high extracellular alginolytic activity. You are assigned the task of establishing a gene bank of this Pseudomonas species in E. coli. Describe, with the aid of a flow diagram, how you would accomplish this task. Give reasons for the cloning strategy that you choose and the methodology that you follow.

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Prof E. Rybicki Polymerase Chain Reaction 10 Marks

Question 2 5 marks
What are the major factors to consider when designing oligonucleotide primers for PCR?

Question 3 5 marks
Briefly describe some applications of PCR technology.

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Dr L. Roden Genomics and genome sequencing 15 Marks

Question 4 4 marks
Describe the similarities and differences between the hierarchical shotgun genome sequencing and whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategies.

Question 5 4 marks
Explain