Topic 12 - 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 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 chomosome that causes a change in the order of its loci.

Question 5

Divergence

Answer 5

A process by which two or more populations of ancestral species accumulate mutations 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 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 Mutation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Descent with Modification

Answer 9

The process by which an organism inherits 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 formation of new genes in which two or more exons from different genes can be brought together.