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There is a general inverse relationship between DNA content and organismic complexity.

A. True
B. False

User Bill Odom
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Final answer:

The relationship between DNA content and organismic complexity is not inverse; the concept is false. Genomic complexity, which differs between prokaryotes and eukaryotes, does not directly determine organismic complexity. Relatedness is better inferred from homologous DNA sequences rather than from the amount of DNA.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that there is a general inverse relationship between DNA content and organismic complexity is false. The amount of DNA an organism has does not necessarily correlate to its complexity. For example, some simple organisms can have large amounts of DNA, including noncoding regions which do not directly contribute to phenotypic traits. Additionally, some complex organisms may have relatively small genomes. The complexity of an organism is influenced by various factors including, but not limited to, gene regulation, protein interactions, and environmental factors.

An important concept to understand related to this question is genomic complexity. Genomic complexity refers to the relative amounts of repeated and unique DNA sequences in an organism's genome. While prokaryotes typically have a lower genomic complexity than eukaryotes, it does not directly infer a lower organismic complexity. When considering evolutionary relationships, genetically similar DNA sequences (homologous DNA) suggest a close evolutionary relationship between two organisms. This is because such sequences are more likely to be conserved through common ancestry. However, having similar DNA does not imply similar complexity between those organisms.

User Kuropan
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