Question

Which of the following would result in a non-functional protein?

A. a silent mutation
B. a missense mutation
C. a nonsense mutation
D. a transfer mutation
E. nucleotide diversity

Answer 1

A non-functional protein can result from a nonsense mutation or a frameshift mutation, but not from a silent mutation or a missense mutation.

Step-by-step explanation:

A non-functional protein can be the result of a nonsense mutation, which is when a premature stop codon is introduced in the DNA sequence. This causes the translation process to end prematurely, resulting in a truncated and non-functional protein. Missense mutations, on the other hand, result in the substitution of one amino acid for another. Depending on the chemistry and location of the new amino acid, the protein may retain its function. Therefore, missense mutations do not necessarily result in non-functional proteins.

Frameshift mutations, such as an insertion or deletion of nucleotides that is not a multiple of three, can also result in non-functional proteins. These mutations alter the reading frame of the DNA sequence, leading to a different amino acid sequence and disrupting the protein's structure and function.

In summary, a non-functional protein can result from a nonsense mutation or a frameshift mutation, but not from a silent mutation or a missense mutation.