Knowledge, Innovation, Excellence

BUNDA CAMPUS
2018- 2019 FIRST SEMESTER QUIZ # 3
BACHELOR OF VETERINARY MEDICINE YEAR I

VET 115: VETERINARY BIOCHEMISTRY I

EXAMINER: DR CJ MTEGHA
Date: Monday, 28 January 2019 Time: 09:00 – 11:00 hrs. Venue: Room AA1

NAME

STUDENT NUMBER

INSTRUCTIONS
 All questions should be answered in the space provided in this question booklet.
 This whole booklet should be submitted at the end of the quiz.

The Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences is devoted to environmental care: for

economic and ecological reasons, this exam is printed on double-side
1. Explain why globin alone or heme alone is not effective as an oxygen carrier. (3 marks)

2. Below is a list of the first 10 residues of the B helix in myoglobin from different organisms.
Based on this information, which positions:

a) Cannot tolerate substitution (2 marks)

b) Can tolerate conservative substitution (2 marks)
c) Are highly variable? (2 marks)

(a)

(b)

(c)

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3. The grelag goose lives year-round in the Indian plains, while its close relative, the bar-headed
goose, spends the summer months in the Tibetan lake region. The p50 value for bar-headed
goose hemoglobin is less than the p50 for grelag goose hemoglobin. What is the significance
of this adaptation? (3 marks)

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4. Highly active muscle generates lactic acid by respiration so fast that the blood passing
through the muscle actually experiences a drop in pH from about 7.4 to about 7.2. Under these
conditions, hemoglobin releases about 10% more O2 than it does at pH 7.4. Explain. (3 marks)

5. What is the physiological significance of the cooperative binding of oxygen by hemoglobin?

(3 marks)

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6. The graph below shows several oxygen-dissociation curves. Assume that curve 3
corresponds to hemoglobin with physiological concentrations of CO2 and 2,3-BPG at pH 7.
Which curves represent each of the following perturbations? (4 marks)

a) Decrease in CO2
b) Increase in 2,3-BPG
c) Increase in pH
d) Loss of quaternary structure

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

7. Is myosin a fibrous protein or a globular protein? Explain. (2 marks)

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8. Rigor mortis is the stiffening of a corpse that occurs in the hours following death. Using
what you know about the mechanism of motor proteins, explain what causes this stiffness. (3
marks)

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9. Describe the primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structures of:

a) Actin (4 marks)
b) Collagen (4 marks)

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10. Compare and contrast globular and fibrous proteins. (6 marks)

END OF QUIZ

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