Question

Comparisons of amino acid sequences can shed light on the evolutionary divergence of related species. If you were comparing two living species, would you expect all proteins to show the same degree of divergence? Why or why not? Justify your answer.

Answer 1

All proteins will show different degrees of divergence because some cellular functions are more essential than others to the survival of the organism.

All proteins will show different degrees of divergence because different species live in different habitats and experience different selection pressure.

Step-by-step explanation:

This is the answer to the same question on mastering biology, but you have to select two correct statements.

Answer 2

If the comparison is made between two of the living species, then all the proteins would not demonstrate a similar degree of divergence. Though the two species got diverged during the progression of evolution, they have originated from a common ancestor.

Some of the proteins taking part in very essential activities of the cell, like protein synthesis and replication would have got conserved in both the species. The modifications resulting due to mutations in the sequences of DNA, which further lead to modifications in very essential proteins may result in the loss of function of such kind of proteins. This would be harmful to the organism.

Only modifications in the proteins that are in reality benefit the organism would be encouraged at the time of divergence. Thus, the degree of divergence of all the proteins in two species will not be same.