Gene Mutations Flashcards
What is gene mutations?
change to the base sequence of DNA during DNA replication
What is substitution?
swapping one base for a different base e.g. G -> T
What is deletion?
one base is removed
this can cause changes to all of the following triplets / codons
How do mutations cause a non-functional protein?
changes to DNA triplet during replication GGT -> GTT
change to mRNA codon
different anticodon - different amino acid
changes to primary structure of protein
different bonding occurs e.g. hydrogen and ionic bonds
changes to tertiary structure
What happens if there are no changes to the primary structure?
DNA is degenerate - each amino acid is coded for by more than one triplet codon
change to DNA base might not cause change to amino acid in primary structure GGT -> GGC
no changes to bonding or tertiary structure then
