Question

It has been recently determined that the gene for DMD is more than 2000 kb in length; however, the mRNa produced by this gene is only about 14 kb long. What is a likely cause of this discrepancy?

a. exons have been spliced out during mRNA processing
b. introns have been spliced out during mRNA processing
c. the DNA represents a ds structures, whereas the RNA is ss
d. when the mRNA is produced, it is highly folded and therefore less long
e. there are more AA coded for by the DNA than by the mRNA

Answer 1

The likely cause of the discrepancy between the length of the gene for DMD and the length of the mRNA produced is that introns have been spliced out during mRNA processing.

Step-by-step explanation:

The likely cause of the discrepancy between the length of the gene for DMD and the length of the mRNA produced is that introns have been spliced out during mRNA processing. In eukaryotic organisms, genes contain both coding sequences called exons and non-coding sequences called introns. During mRNA processing, the introns are removed, and only the exons are spliced together to form the mature mRNA molecule. This process allows for different variations of the protein to be produced from the same gene, increasing the diversity of possible proteins and protein functions.