Topic 11 - Mutation And Gene Evolution

Question 1

Alternative Splicing

Answer 1

A regulated process during gene expression that results in a single gene coding for multiple proteins.

Question 2

Gene Duplication

Answer 2

A major molecular mechanism by which new genetic material is generated during molecular evolution.

Question 3

Pseudogenes

Answer 3

Dysfunctional relatives of genes that have lost their protein coding ability or are otherwise no longer expressed in the cell.

Question 4

Gene Rearrangement

Answer 4

A structural alteration of a chromosome that causes a change in the order of its loci.

Question 5

Divergence

Answer 5

A process in which two or more populations of ancestral species accumulate independently genetic mutations/changes through time, often after the populations have become reproductively isolated for some period of time.

Question 6

Mutagen

Answer 6

A physical or chemical agent that changes genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level.

Question 7

Somatic Mutation

Answer 7

A genetic alteration that can be passed on to the progeny of the mutated cell in the course of cellular division.

Question 8

Germline Mutations

Answer 8

Any detectable and heritable variation on the lineage of germ cells.

Question 9

Descent with Modification

Answer 9

The process by which organisms inherit variations in traits that may or may not influence the organisms ability to survive and reproduce.

Question 10

Extinction

Answer 10

The termination of a species.

Question 11

Exon Shuffling

Answer 11

The creation and formation of new genes in which two or more exons from different genes can be brought together.