Year 1 (AS) Biology Specification 7401 September 2017

Assessment questions
all about …

CELLS
3 – Cell division &
Mitosis

Name: ________________________
1. CELL DIVISION Date: ……………………….

1. Yeast is a single-celled eukaryotic organism. When yeast cells are grown, each cell forms
a bud. This bud grows into a new cell. This allows yeast to multiply because the parent
cell is still alive and the new cell has been formed.

Scientists grew yeast cells in a culture. They counted the number of cells present and
measured the total concentration of DNA in the culture over a period of 6 hours. Their
results are shown in the graph.

a. Use your knowledge of the cell cycle to explain the shape of the curve for the number of
yeast cells
i. between 1 and 2 hours

(1 mark)

ii. between 3 and 4 hours.

(1 mark)

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b. Use the curve for the concentration of DNA to find the length of a cell cycle in these yeast
cells. Explain how you arrived at your answer.

Length of cycle:
Explanation:

(3 marks)

2. The figure below summarises the process of meiosis. The circles represent cells and the
structures within each cell represent chromosomes.

a. Describe and explain the appearance of one of the chromosomes in cell X.

(3 marks)

b. Describe what has happened during division 1 in the diagram.

(2 marks)
c. Identify one event that occurred during division 2 but not during division 1.
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(1 mark)

d. Name two ways in which meiosis produces genetic variation.

1.
2.
(2 marks)

3. Figure 1 represents part of a DNA molecule.

Figure 1

a. Draw a box around a single nucleotide.

(1 mark)

b. Table 1 shows the percentage of bases in each of the strands of a DNA molecule.
Complete Table 1 by adding the missing values.

Table 1

(2 marks)

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c. During replication, the two DNA strands separate and each acts as a template for the
production of a new strand. As new DNA strands are produced, nucleotides can only be
added in the 5’ to 3’ direction.

Use Figure 1 and your knowledge of enzyme action and DNA replication to explain why
new nucleotides can only be added in a 5’ to 3’ direction.

(4 marks)

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2. MITOSIS Date: ……………………….

1. a. In which phase of the cell cycle does DNA replication take place?

(1 mark)

b. The diagrams show five stages of mitosis.

List the stages A to E in the correct sequence, beginning with the earliest stage.

(1 mark)

c. Describe the role of the spindle during mitosis.

(2 marks)

d. Meiosis also occurs during the life cycle of organisms. What is the importance of meiosis?

(2 marks)

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2. a. Mitosis is important in the life of an organism. Give two reasons why.

(2 marks)

b. A biologist used a microscope to investigate plant tissue where some of the cells were
dividing by mitosis. She examined 200 cells and counted the number of cells in
interphase and in each stage of mitosis.

The table shows some of the cells she saw, and the percentage of cells in interphase and
in two stages of mitosis, A and B.

i. Explain why the biologist chose to examine 200 cells.

(1 mark)
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ii. Name Stage A and Stage B. Give the evidence from the photograph that you used to
identify the stage.
Name of stage A:
Evidence:

Name of stage B:
Evidence:

(4 marks)
c. In this tissue one complete cell cycle took 20 hours. Using information from the table,
calculate the mean time for these cells to complete mitosis. Show your working.

Answer ......................................
(2 marks)

3. a. The diagram shows a stage of mitosis in an animal cell.

i. Name this stage.

(1 mark)

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ii. Describe what happens during this stage that results in the production of two genetically
identical cells.

(2 marks)

b. A sample of epithelial tissue from the small intestine of an animal was analysed. Some of
the cells had 8.4 units of DNA, others had only 4.2 units.
i. Use your knowledge of the cell cycle to explain why some cells had 8.4 units of DNA and
others had only 4.2 units.

(2 marks)

ii. How many units of DNA would you expect to be present in a gamete formed in this
animal as a result of meiosis?

(1 mark)

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4. The diagram shows a cell cycle.

a. In prophase of mitosis, the chromosomes become visible. Describe what happens in

i. metaphase

(2 marks)

ii. anaphase.

(2 marks)

b. Cells lining the human intestine complete the cell cycle in a short time.
i. Explain the advantage of these cells completing the cell cycle in a short time.

(1 mark)

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ii. The time required for a cell to complete the cell cycle was 4 hours 18 minutes. Calculate
the time required in minutes for this cell to multiply to produce eight cells. Show your
working.

Answer .....................................................
(2 marks)

c. Mikanolide is a drug that inhibits the enzyme DNA polymerase. Explain why this drug may
be effective against some types of cancer.

(2 marks)

5. The figure shows some cells from an onion root tip at different stages of the cell cycle.

a. Place stages A to E in the correct order. Start with stage D.

D
(1 mark)

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To obtain these images, the onion root tip was cut off, stained and put on a microscope
slide. A cover slip was placed on top. The root tip was then firmly squashed and viewed
under an optical microscope.

b. Complete the table to give one reason why each of these steps was necessary.

Step Reason

Taking cells from the root

tip

Firmly squashing the root

tip

(2 marks)

3. STAGES OF MITOSIS (PRACTICAL) Date: ……………………….

1. The photograph shows cells from an onion root tip. The root tip has been squashed and
stained to show the stages of mitosis.

a. i. At what stage of mitosis is cell A?

(1 mark)
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ii. What is the evidence that cell B is in anaphase?

(1 mark)

iii. Cell C is in interphase. Give two processes which occur during interphase that enable cell
division to occur.
1.

2.

(2 marks)

b. Explain how you would calculate the magnification of the photograph.

(1 mark)

c. The number of cells at each stage of mitosis was counted. The results are shown in the
table.

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One complete cell cycle takes 24 hours. The number of cells at each stage is proportional
to the time spent at that stage. Calculate the length of time spent in metaphase. Show
your working.

Answer ........................................................... hours

(2 marks)

2. A student investigated mitosis in the tissue from an onion root tip. The student prepared
a temporary mount of the onion tissue on a glass slide. She covered the tissue with a
cover slip. She was then given the following instruction.

“Push down hard on the cover slip, but do not push the cover slip sideways.”

a. Explain why she was given this instruction.

(2 marks)

Figure 1 shows one cell the student saw in the onion tissue.

Figure 1

b. The student concluded that the cell in Figure 1 was in the anaphase stage of mitosis. Was
she correct? Give two reasons for your answer.
1.

2.

(2 marks)
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c. The student counted the number of cells she observed in each stage of mitosis. Of the
200 cells she counted, only six were in anaphase. One cell cycle of onion root tissue takes
16 hours. Calculate how many minutes these cells spend in anaphase. Show your
working.

Answer = ………………………………. minutes

(2 marks)
4. UNCONTROLLED CELL DIVISION Date: ……………………….

1. a. The graph shows information about the movement of chromatids in a cell that has just
started metaphase of mitosis.

i. What was the duration of metaphase in this cell? ……………………………………. minutes

(1 mark)
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ii. Use line X to calculate the duration of anaphase in this cell. ………………………… minutes
(1 mark)

iii. Complete line Y on the graph.

(2 marks)

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b. A doctor investigated the number of cells in different stages of the cell cycle in two tissue
samples, C and D. One tissue sample was taken from a cancerous tumour. The other was
taken from non-cancerous tissue. The table shows his results.

Which tissue sample, C or D, was taken from a cancerous tumour? Use information in the
table to explain your answer.

(2 marks)

2. Cytarabine is a drug used to treat certain cancers. It prevents DNA replication. The
diagram shows the structures of cytarabine and the DNA base cytosine.

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a. Use information in the diagram to suggest how cytarabine prevents DNA replication.

(2 marks)

b. Cytarabine has a greater effect on cancer cells than on healthy cells. Explain why.

(1 mark)

3. The enzyme tyrosine kinase (TK) is found in human cells. TK can exist in a non-functional
and a functional form. The functional form of TK is only produced when a phosphate
group is added to TK. This is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

a. Addition of a phosphate group to the non-functional form of TK leads to production of

the functional form of TK. Explain how.

(2 marks)
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b. The binding of the functional form of TK to its substrate leads to cell division. Chronic
myeloid leukaemia is a cancer caused by a faulty form of TK. Cancer involves
uncontrolled cell division. Figure 2 shows the faulty form of TK.

Figure 2

Suggest how faulty TK leads to chronic myeloid leukaemia.

(2 marks)

c. Imatinib is a drug used to treat chronic myeloid leukaemia. Figure 3 shows how imatinib
inhibits faulty TK.

Figure 3

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Using all of the information, describe how imatinib stops the development of chronic
myeloid leukaemia.

(2 marks)

5. REPLICATION IN VIRUSES Date: ……………………….

1. Read the following passage.

Use information from the passage and your own knowledge to answer the following
questions.

a. HSV infects nerve cells in the face (line 1). Explain why it infects only nerve cells.

(3 marks)
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b. HSV can remain inactive inside the body for years (lines 2–3). Explain why this virus can
be described as inactive.

(2 marks)

c. Suggest one advantage of programmed cell death (line 4).

(1 mark)

d. The scientists concluded that production of this microRNA allows HSV to remain in the
body for years (lines 10–12). Explain how this microRNA allows HSV to remain in the body
for years.

(4 marks)

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