Mutagenesis Flashcards
When does a mutation occur?
-When there is a change in the nucleotide sequence resulting in a triplet codon differing in the a’a it should represent, thus causing a different a’a to be translated
What is a silent substitution?
-A substitution which occurs at the third position of a codon which does not change the a’a produced
What are the three types of point mutations?
- Missense
- Silent
- Nonsense
What is a missense mutation?
-One a’a is substituted for another (may interrupt the tertiary structure by disrupting to bonding)
What is an example of a missense mutation?
-Sickle cell anaemia
When can silent mutations cause a problem?
- When the mutation disrupts RNA splicing
- The nucleotide sequence may change the splice sites in a way that the specific nuclease may no longer recognise the splice sequence or mat introduce a splice sequence
What is a nonsense mutation?
- When an a’a codon is mutated to produce a stop codon
- Produces a short non-functoning peptide
What is a frameshift mutation?
-Alterations in the reading frame of mRNA caused by insertions, deletions and splice site mutations
What is a common result of frame shift mutations?
-The introduction of stop codons causing the ribosome to terminate translation prematurely
Can a gain or loss of 3bp cause a frameshift?
-No the reading frame will be maintained
What happens to the mRNA when a gain/loss introduces a premature stop codon?
Why does this happen?
- mRNA is degraded by nonsense mediated decay and little or no protein is produced
- Happens as a protective mechanism
What happens when there is a mutation in an intron splice site?
-The exon is skipped immediately next to the mutation
In which two ways can sequence changes occur during DNA replication?
- Tautomeric Shift
- Slippage
What is tautomeric shift?
-Each of the 4 bases in DNA can undergo tautomeric shift where by a proton briefly changes position
How does tautomeric shift introduce a mutation?
-The rare tautomeric form of a nucleotide has altered base-pairing properties and behaves as an altered base template during replication
Which two bases undergo tautomeric shift and what does it cause them to behave like?
- C->A
- T->G
What is slippage during DNA relication?
-One of the nucleotides slips out of sequence above the rest of the mRNA molecule
How does slippage introduce a mutation?
- Slippage on the newly synthesised strand and the base is paired again introducing an extra nucleotide
- Slippage on the template strand and nucleotide is missed out on the new strand
How does nitrous acid cause mutations in DNA replication?
-Replaces amino groups with keto groups causing:
C->U
A->H
G->X
How does Ethyl Methane Sulphonate (EMS) cause mutations in DNA replication?
-Causes removal of purines and apurinic sites can be paired with any base during replication