Problema 5 · Biología URV Practice Test: Biology and Genetics of Prokaryotes

1. What defines the physiological role of a competent bacterial cell during natural transformation?

Solución: b) It possesses the specialized machinery to bind and take up exogenous free DNA from its surroundings

2. What is the fate of naked environmental DNA taken up during bacterial transformation?

Solución: c) It can be integrated into the recipient host genome by homologous recombination

3. Which of the following processes is NOT an example of horizontal gene transfer between bacterial cells?

Solución: d) Replicative transposition

4. Which process directly facilitates genotypic diversification through physical cell-to-cell contact in bacteria?

Solución: b) Conjugation

5. Why is horizontal gene transfer of immense evolutionary significance to prokaryotes?

Solución: a) It promotes rapid acquisition of novel functional traits enabling survival in changing environments

6. Which summary most accurately captures the primary driving forces behind genotypic variation in bacterial populations?

Solución: b) Variation arises through spontaneous mutations, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and horizontal gene transfer