Question

Which kind of mutation is most common: lethal, non-lethal but deleterious, neutral, or beneficial? Draw a graph to illustrate your answer. According to the graph, do most mutations have large or small effects on fitness?

a) Lethal
b) Non-lethal but deleterious
c) Neutral
d) Beneficial

Answer 1

Neutral mutations are the most common type, neither positively nor negatively affecting an organism's fitness, while deleterious mutations are also relatively common. Beneficial mutations are the least common but provide significant advantages.

Step-by-step explanation:

The kind of mutation that is most common among lethal, non-lethal but deleterious, neutral, and beneficial is the neutral mutation. Neutral mutations do not affect an organism's fitness; they are neither advantageous nor detrimental. Examples of neutral mutations could be silent point mutations that do not change the amino acids in proteins they encode.

Beneficial mutations are the least common type of mutation. They can lead to new versions of proteins that improve an organism’s fitness. However, although rare, these mutations are often the most notable because they can provide a significant evolutionary advantage.