Final answer:
Extra genetic material inserted into the intron of the OCA2 gene can disrupt the gene's normal splicing process during mRNA processing, potentially leading to the production of a nonfunctional protein and resulting in amelanism in corn snakes.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of corn snakes, the insertion of extra genetic material into an intron of the OCA2 gene can lead to a nonfunctional protein through a process known as insertional mutagenesis. Introns are non-coding segments of DNA within a gene, and while they are typically removed during RNA processing, insertions in these regions can disrupt the normal splicing process. This disruption can result in an incorrectly spliced mRNA that translates into a nonfunctional or truncated protein, which is likely what happens with the amelanistic color variants observed in the corn snake Pantherophis guttatus. In the case of amelanism, this improper splicing forestalls the production of normal melanin pigments, leading to the expression of only red and yellow pigments in the snakes' skin.