Q.

79 Q9
When a person born and brought-up at sea level and then moves to a village at an
altitude of 3000 metres above sea level by helicopter, some adaptations of their body
occur to compensate for the decreased oxygen pressure at high altitude.

Indicate in the Answer sheet if each of the following statements is True or False.
A. The moment the person arrives at the high altitude, oxyhemoglobin dissociation
curve shifts to the left (indicating greater affinity of hemoglobin for oxygen).
B. After several days living at the high altitude, the person's blood viscosity is
decreased, enabling his blood to deliver more oxygen to his tissues.
C. After several weeks living at the high altitude, the person's lung cells of this
person produce more nitric oxide (NO).
D. Many people who ascend rapidly to high altitude experience some degree of
acute mountain sickness (e.g., headache, malaise, and nausea). Which may be
treated with a drug that causes bicarbonate to be excreted in the urine.

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 Q10
16 Animal anatomy and physiology

Mammalian herbivores use different strategies to digest cellulose. Ruminants (e.g. cattle) use
multiple stomachs, whereas monogastrics rely on an extended caecum or colon.
Indicate if each of the following statements is true or false.
A. The relative abundances of different amino acids in the small intestine of ruminants differ
from the relative abundances of the swallowed food.
B. Ruminants eat their faeces digested in the caecum to cover their nutritional need.
C. In monogastric herbivores, the absorption of nutrients occurs primarily in the colon.
D. The majority of the bacteria in the stomach of monogastric herbivores are able to produce
cellulase.
A. True B. False C. False D. False

Original commentary
Correct answers
A true
Microorganisms metabolise anorganic nitrogen to build their own proteins which have a different amino-acid-pattern
than the food they swallowed. In the abomasum, microorganisms are killed by the HCL and their proteins are digested
from the ruminant.
B false
Not ruminants but monogastric herbivores like rabbits have to eat their faeces from the coecum.
C false
In most monogastric herbivores, it is still the small intestine where most nutrients are absorbed. That is why several
monogastric herbivores eat their feaces.
D false
Monogastric stomaches are not supposed to host bacterias.
ibo 2015 https://bioscience.au.dk/students/0c6cf479ba0573b882e449ff

Q11

% of P(O2)
as compared to sea level
100 89 79 70 62
A B 80 8.0
70 7.5
0.20

Number of species
60 7.0
Heart mass (g)

Body mass (g)

50 6.5
40 6.0
0.10 30 5.5
20 5.0
10 4.5

0 0 4.0
0 4 8 12 0 1000 2000 3000 4000
Body mass (g) Elevation (m)

6 sur 53 2/12/2015 16:10

Q.29
Q12
The skeletal muscle fibers are divided into three types depending on the speed and
energy sources of muscle contraction:
Type I: Slow twitch, oxidative muscle fibers.
Type IIa: Fast twitch, oxidative muscle fibers.
Type IIb: Fast twitch, glycolytic muscle fibers.
Figure Q.29 shows the correlation of mRNA expression levels of the genes Myh7,
Myh2, and Myh1 specific for muscle fiber types I, IIa, and IIb, respectively, in human
skeletal muscles of legs: quadriceps, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles.

3
Quadriceps

Gastrocnemius
Relative mRNA levels

Soleus
2

0
Myh7 Myh2 Myh1

Figure Q.29.

Indicate in the Answer sheet if each of the following statements is True or False.
A. The soleus muscles of the sprinter athletes are prone to be more developed than
those in the marathon athletes.
B. The ratio of mitochondria number per muscle mass in the quadriceps muscle is
less than that in the gastrocnemius muscle.
C. The soleus muscle contains less sarcoplasmic reticulum than the gastrocnemius
muscle does.
D. Regularly doing the endurance exercise for a long period of time can increase the
number of glycolytic muscle fibers in the gastrocnemius muscles.

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ANIMAL ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Q13
Q.69
Figure Q.69 shows the regulation of HCl secretion in the parietal cell of the stomach.

H+ Cl−

ATP Parietal
K+ cell

Phosphorylation of proteins

Histamine 2 Gastrin Ach-

receptor receptor receptor

Blood
Histamine Gastrin Ach
Figure Q.69

Drugs 1, 2, 3, and 4 inhibit gastric acid secretion differently in vivo via one of the four
pathways: inactivating the H+/K+ATPase, blocking the Histamine 2 receptor, blocking
Gastrin receptor, and blocking Acetylcholine (Ach) receptor.
A set of experiments were conducted to determine in which pathway these drugs
inhibit gastric acid secretion. Parietal cells were isolated and cultured in different
media. Each medium contained one of the four drugs. Each drug-containing medium
was added with one of three compounds (Histamine, Gastrin, Ach). The HCl secretion
of parietal cells in the cultures was determined. The following table shows the results
of the experiments.
(–: No HCl secretion; +: HCl secretion; ?: not shown).
Ach Gastrin Inhibits Hist2 ATPase
No drug Drug 1 Drug 2 Drug 3 Drug 4
No addition − − − − −
Histamine added ? ? ? ? −
Gastrin added ? ? ? + ?
Ach added + − ? ? −

Indicate in the Answer sheet if each of the following statements is True or False.
A. HCl was secreted by the parietal cells cultured in the medium containing Drug 1
and Histamine.
B. Drug 2 blocked Gastrin receptors.
C. Drug 3 blocked Histamine 2 receptors.
D. The parietal cells cultured in the medium containing Drug 4 and Ach had lower
levels of intracellular K+ than the cells cultured in the medium containing only
Ach.

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 Q14
31/07/2017 IBO 2016 Apollo

PRESSURE-VOLUME LOOPS
The pressure and volume of beating ventricles can be measured as they change with time.
Recordings (1) and (2) are from the same resting, healthy heart, beating at 60 beats per minute (bpm).
At maximum cardiac output of 28.8 l/min, the maximum ventricular volume doubles, and the minimum
ventricular volume halves.
Recordings (3) and (4) are from different diseased hearts.

120 1 2

80

40

Pressure
(mmHg)

120 3 4

80

40

40 80 120 (ml) 40 80 120

Volume

2 l/min 5 l/min 6 l/min 7 l/min 10 l/min

Choose the nearest output to the correct answer.

100 bpm 125 bpm 150 bpm 175 bpm 200 bpm
Choose the nearest rate to the correct answer.

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31/07/2017 IBO 2016 Apollo

True False
Recording 1 is of the right-side of the heart, recording 2 is of the left-side of the heart.
Recording 3 indicates an aortic (arterial) obstruction.
Recording 4 indicates leaky heart valves.

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31/07/2017 IBO 2016 Apollo

Q15
MUSCLE ANATOMY
Hugh Huxley (1924-2013) proposed the sliding filament theory of muscle contraction. Myosin can bind actin
filaments, then change conformation, tugging on actin. Skeletal muscle myosin can only generate tension on
actin by this change of conformation, and releases actin immediately once it is complete. During each cycle of
binding, myosin hydrolyses one ATP molecule.

Myosin is found as two alternative forms; MYH-I or MYH-II. Individual muscle fibres either contain MYH-I,
or MYH-II, but individual muscles contained a mix of fibre-types. The mix of fibre-types in different mammal
species (dots) was measured. MYH-II cycles more quickly than MYH-I.

Proportion of MYH-I fibres in muscle

(%)
100

Humans

Chimpanzees

0
Body mass (kg)

True False
Human muscles contract more quickly than chimp (Pan) muscles when opposed by the same load.
A muscle fibre generates more force when it is shortening rapidly, compared to when its shortening
is resisted by a load.
Chimps generate a greater proportion of the ATP in their muscles aerobically, compared to humans.
The most recent common ancestor of humans and chimps is likely to have had muscles more similar
to humans’ than chimps’.
A tensed muscle that is not shortening, does not consume ATP.

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Q.26
Q16
Two groups of students separately performed an experiment on kidney function.
Thirty minutes before the experiment, each student in one group was instructed to
drink 500 mL of water, while each student in the other group was instructed to drink
100 mL of water. At t = 0 minute, each student in both groups was instructed to drink
750 mL of water. Each student was then asked to urinate as he or she would normally
do without attempting to manipulate the speed or flow in any way at the different time
points shown in Figure Q.26. An electronic uroflowmeter was used to measure the
urine flow rate. The Cl- concentration in each urine sample was measured. Figure
Q.26 shows the data of the experiment.

300 8

Urine flow rate (mL/min)

250 7 Group II
Urine [Cl (mM/L)

6
200
5
-

150 4 Group I
100 Group I 3
2
50 Group II
1
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 0 20 40 60 80

Time (min) Time (min)

Figure Q.26.

Indicate in the Answer sheet if each of the following statements is True or False.
A. The absolute reabsorption of water by nephrons of the students in Group II at t =
60 min was lower than that of the students in Group I.
B. The plasma aldosterone concentration of the students in Group I was the highest
at t = 60 min.
C. The students in Group I drank 500 mL of water 30 minutes before the
experiment.
D. The students in Group II produced about 140 mL of urine during the period
between t = 40 min and t = 60 min.

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