Lecture 12: Bacterial gene mutations Flashcards
Name the major regions of the bacterial gene.
From 5’ to 3’: Promoter region, antileader, coding region, antitrailer, terminator
Name the major areas on the promoter and what happens at each.
-35: RNA polymerase recognition site
-10: RNA polymerase binding site (also called Pribnow box)
+1: start of transcription
Name the major regions of the transribed mRNA.
Leader (complement to antileader section): start of translation (after AUG)
Trailer (at the end, complement to antitrailer section)
What is a base substitution mutation?
A base pair in the DNA is changed out for the other base pair, i.e. T-A for G-C or vice versa.
What is a deletion mutation?
One or several base pairs are deleted, leaving a shorter piece of DNA.
What is an inversion mutation?
The order of the base pairs is flipped around (from left to right to right to left)
What is a transposition mutation?
New base pairs are inserted into the DNA, leaving a longer piece of DNA.
What is a duplication mutation?
A stretch of base pairs is duplicated, leaving a longer piece of DNA.
What are the two types of morphological mutations? Explain them.
Colonial or cellular. Cellular morphological mutations are when individual cells change shape. Colonial mutations are when the shape of the colony itself changes.
What is a lethal mutation?
This is when the mutation results in the cell being unable to function. For example, if it loses its ability to replicate its DNA.
What is a biochemical mutation?
If one enzyme is mutated, a biochemical pathway might be disrupted and a molecule might not be able to be synthesized.
A biochemical mutation can turn a bacteria from […] to […]
Prototroph, auxotroph
Give an example of a biochemical mutation.
if a cell can no longer produce its own leucine, it must pick it up from the environment. It becomes a leucine auxotroph.
What is an auxotroph?
It is when a cell cannot grow without the specific addition of a molecule.
What is a resistant mutation?
When cells are treated with antibiotics or chemicals, mutations will occur. They will then attempt to mutate in order to resist this, as pressure has been placed on them to evolve.
What is a spontaneous mutation?
It is a mutation that occurs during DNA replication when the DNA polymerase III fails to catch its mistake.
What is a point mutation?
It is when just a single base pair is changed.
What are the 4 types of point mutations? Explain them.
Silent: the change doesn’t change the amino acid it’s coding for
Missense: the change does change the amino acid it’s coding for
Nonsense: the change results in a stop codon and thus a premature stop during synthesis.
Frameshift: There is a deletion or insertion that causes a change in reading frame, thus changing the codons
Give two examples of mutagens that can cause DNA mutations.
Physical: UV, x-rays, gamma rays
Chemical: 5-bromouracil