DEV2011

Practical Week 3
Lecture Review Questions

These questions relate to lecture material from Week 2. Complete the questions prior to
your Practical Class in Week 3, where the answers will be reviewed. These are NOT assessed.

Lecture 4) Evo-devo and model organisms

Question 1:
Rate the following pairs in terms of evolutionary distance from closest to most distantly
related (number them from 1 closest to 5 most distant)
A.
human and zebrafish (D. rerio)

____
B.
human and yeast (S. cerevisiae)

____
C.
human and mouse (M. musculus)
____
D.
human and chicken (G. gallus)

____
E.
human and roundworm (C. elegans)
____

Question 2:
List 2 reasons why model organisms are useful in developmental biology

1. _______________________________________

2. _______________________________________

Question 3:
List 3 commonly used model organisms in developmental biology

1. ___________________ 2. ___________________ 3. ____________________


Question 4:

If you wanted to study the development of the mammalian spinal column, which organism
would you choose?
1) Yeast (S. cerevisiae)
2) Mouse (M. musculus)
3) Fruitfly (D. melanogaster)
4) Human (H. sapiens)
5) Any of the above

Question 5:
Why did you choose your answer above?

_______________________________________________________________

Lecture 5) Fertilisation and embryo cleavage

Question 1:
In humans, how long does it take from fertilisation to hatching/implantation?

_________________________________________________________________

Question 2:
At which stage or number of cells (blastomeres) of the early embryo is it thought that cell
specialisation has begun, in other words, when is it that cells of the embryo are no longer
equal? _____________________________

Question 3:
Which term describes the cells produced by cleavage of the zygote?

_______________________________________________________________

Question 4:

List 3 events that occur once the sperm head contents have entered the egg

1._____________ 2._______________ 3._______________


Question 5:
What is the slow block to polyspermy?

_______________________________________________________________


Lecture 6) Embryo and gastrulation

Question 1:

Write numbers 1 to 5 in the boxes below to indicate the order of development (earliest to
latest):, morula, foetus, blastocyst, 4-cell embryo, fertilised egg

1._____________ 2._______________ 3._______________

4._____________ 5._________________

Question 2:

What are the 3 germ layers?

1.__________________ 2. __________________ 3._________________


Question 3:
From the 3 germ layers you have listed above, list one cell type that develops from that
germ layer:

1.__________________ 2. __________________ 3._________________


Question 4:

What does nodal flow do?

_________________________________________________________

Question 5:

What is suggested to be the most important event in your life?

___________________________________