Lab 7 Flashcards
why are mutations not the most important agent of evolutionary change in populations?
mutation rates are low
what is most of the encoded info in DNA used for?
used to manufacture proteins necessary for cell development and function
what are genes?
DNA sections that store genetic info for proteins in the form of nucleotide base sequences
describe the path of the central dogma
DNA to mRNA to protein
what is the difference between a point and a frameshift mutation?
point - one base substituted with another one
frameshift - insertion or deletion of one or more bases, resulting in shift of reading frame
why is a frameshift mutation more profound than a point mutation?
all bases beyond point of insertion/deletion are changed, all amino acids downstream of mutation are affected
how is the genetic code redundant/degenerate?
for most codons, only the first two bases are important in determining which amino acid is added to the chain
what are synonymous mutations?
mutations that change sequence of codons, but do not change their meaning
how is DNA evolving faster than proteins important?
possible for two identical proteins to only share 70% similarity in DNA
what is bioinformatics?
the science of using computers to collect, store, analyze biological information to be used for understanding biological processes
what is one example of using bioinformatics?
searching databases of biological information for identifying source and function of a DNA sequence
comparing amino acid sequences in proteins of living organisms
how does bioinformatics help with finding common ancestors of organisms?
when two species diverge from a common ancestor, differences in nucleotides of same gene will accumulate over time because of mutations, and these mutations can be seen in the same protein from the different species
what is the molecular clock theory?
differences accumulate over time - possible to assign an approx. time frame to the divergence of organisms from their common ancestor
how does the molecular clock theory use the protein cytochrome c for finding common ancestors in various organisms?
cytochrome c is involved in ETC and can be found in most living organisms
of amino acid differences between cyt c of all species determine relationships and common ancestors
what is the relationship between relatedness of species and the # of amino acid differences in their cyt c proteins?
the smaller the number of differences in amino acids between two species, the more recently they have diverged from a common ancestor
