AP® BIOLOGY

BIOLOGY

2012 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 3

Note: At least 1 point must be earned from each of parts (a), (b), (c), and (d) in order to earn a maxim

score of 10.

Information flow in cells can be regulated by various mechanisms.

(a) Describe the role of THREE of the following in the regulation of protein synthesis:

• RNA splicing

• repressor proteins

• methylation

• siRNA

(3 points maximum)

Description (1 point per box)

RNA splicing

• Exons spliced together.

• Introns removed.

• snRNPs/spliceosomes help remove introns.

Repressor proteins

• Inhibit transcription.

• Inhibit translation.

• Silence genes.

• Inactivate gene expression.

Methylation

• DNA or histone methylation prevents transcription.

• Protects against restriction enzymes.

siRNA

• Facilitates degradation of mRNA.

• Inhibits translation.

BIOLOGY

2012 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 3 (continued)

(b) Information flow can be altered by mutation. Describe THREE different types of mutations and their

effect on protein synthesis.

(4 points maximum)

Type of mutation

(not limited to the

following) Description (1 point per box) Effect (1 point per box)

Silent Nucleotide change. No change in amino

acid/protein sequence.

Missense/substitution Nucleotide change causes new

codon.

Different amino acid/protein

sequence.

Nonsense/substitution Nucleotide change causes stop

codon.

Protein not formed OR

truncated protein.

Frameshift

(insertion/deletion)

Nucleotide insertion/deletion alters

reading fram

e after mutation.

Changes amino acid/protein

sequence OR nonfunctional

protein OR no protein.

Regulatory region Nucleotide

insertion/deletion/substitution.

Alters gene expression OR

alters splice site.

Translocation Chromosome segment moves to

different site.

Nondisjunction Chromosomes fail to separate.

Duplication

Deletion

Chromosome segment doubles.

Chromosome segment is removed.

Alters gene expression.

Inversion Chromosome segment is reversed.

Transposition Chromosome segment moves to a

different site.

their effect on the genome of the organism.

(4 points maximum)

Environmental factor (not limited to the

following) (1 point each; 2 points maximum)

• UV light

• Carcinogens

• Cigarette smoke

• Asbestos

• Radon gas

• Radiation

• X-rays

• Gamma rays/cosmic rays

• Chemical mutagens

• Nitrites

• EtBr

• Aflatoxin

• Pollution

• Viruses

Discussion (1 point each; 2 points

maximum)

• T-T/thymine dimers.

• DNA is altered/damaged

(e.g., deamination, depurination, double

strand breaks).

• Disrupt gene sequence.

BIOLOGY

2012 SCORING GUIDELINES

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Question 3 (continued)

(d) Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in the phenotype caused by mechanisms other than

changes in the DNA sequence.

Describe ONE example of epigenetic inheritance.

(1 point maximum)

Description of an epigenetic example (1 point maximum)

Acceptable responses include, but are not limited to, the following:

• DNA or histone modifications

• Inactivated X chromosomes (Barr bodies, calico cats)

• Heterochromatin

• Tumor suppressor genes (inactivation of p53)

• Cellular aging

• Environmental/in utero influences

• Maternal diet

• Agouti mice

• Heavy metals

• Famine study

• Pollution

• Twin studies (e.g., identical twin variations)

• Stress-induced alterations (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder)

• Genomic imprinting (e.g., Prader-Willi syndrome, Angelman syndrome)

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BIOLOGY

2012 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 3

Overview

This question asked students to describe information flow within cells and organisms — specifically, the

regulation of, and the effects of mutations on, protein synthesis. Part (a) required students to describe the

role of three normal cellular processes or factors in the regulation of protein synthesis, and part (b) asked for

a description of three different types of mutations and the effect of the mutations on protein synthesis. In

part (c) students were requested to identify environmental factors that could increase the mutation rate

and to describe the effect of these mutations on the genome of an organism. Lastly, part (d) provided

information about how the emerging field of epigenetics studies heritable changes in an organism’s

phenotype that are caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA sequence and then asked

students to describe an example of epigenetic inheritance.

Sample: 3A

Score: 10

This response earned the maximum of 3 points in part (a). One point was earned for describing the role of

RNA splicing in protein synthesis: “[S]plicosome [sic] cuts segments out of the RNA strand … called

introns.” One point was earned for describing the function of repressor proteins: “Repressor proteins can

bind to the promoter[,] … preventing the expression of that gene.” One point was earned for describing

methylation as “the attachment of methyl groups to DNA, preventing its transcription.” In part (b) the

response earned the maximum of 4 points. One point was earned for describing how a missense mutation

occurs “when the nucleotide sequence of a gene is changed,” and 1 point was earned for describing the

effect on protein synthesis: “[T]he functional product of the gene changes in composition.” One point was

earned for describing a nonsense mutation (“when a codon within a gene is replaced with a stop codon”),

and 1 point was earned for describing its effect on protein synthesis (“ends translation”). Additional points

could have been earned for the description and effect of a frameshift mutation, but the maximum for this

section had already been reached. In part (c) 1 point was earned for identifying radiation as an

environmental factor that increases the mutation rate, and 1 point was earned for discussing how it

“potentially changes the DNA permanently, affecting the products of any affected genes.” In part (d)

1 point was earned for describing an example of epigenetic inheritance: “The acetylation of histone tails in

the nucleosomes … loosens the structure of a chromosome, increasing the rate of expression of the more

exposed genes.”

Sample: 3B

Score: 8

In part (a) 1 point was earned for describing how repressor proteins prevent DNA from being transcribed into

RNA. One point was earned for describing RNA splicing as “the process of cutting introns.” In part (b) the

maximum of 4 points was earned. One point was earned for describing a frameshift mutation (“when a single

base is removed/lost”). One point was earned for describing the effect of the frameshift: “the codon[s] … are

altered from the site of the deleted base all the way through the end of the DNA coding for a protein.” The

response earned 1 point for describing “[a] substitution of a base for another base,” and 1 point for describing

the effect of a substitution (“a single change in the codon, and therefore the amino acid”). Additional points

could have been earned, but the student had already reached the internal maximum of 4 points in part (b). In

part (c) 1 point was earned for identifying UV radiation, and 1 point was earned for listing viruses as

environmental factors that can increase the mutation rate in an organism. No points were earned in part (d).

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BIOLOGY

2012 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 3 (continued)

Sample: 3C

Score: 6

In part (a) 1 point was earned for describing how RNA spliceosomes “remove introns.” One point was earned

for describing how “[t]he addition of methyl groups to DNA causes the DNA to condense, preventing

production of mRNA.” One point was earned for describing how “[r]epressor proteins can bind to

promoters … , thus stopping transcription.” The response earned 2 points in part (b): 1 point for describing

how a “point mutation can change the sequence of a codon” and 1 point for describing the effect of a point

mutation as a change in the “specific amino acid.” In part (c) 1 point was earned for identifying radiation as

an environmental factor that can cause mutations. No points were earned in part (d).

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