Question

Mispairing due to tautomeric shifts in nucleotides may result in:

A) Silent mutation
B) Nonsense mutation
C) Transition mutation
D) Frameshift mutation

Answer 1

Frameshift mutation is the correct answer. Mispairing due to tautomeric shifts in nucleotides can result in frameshift mutations where nucleotides are inserted or deleted in the DNA sequence, causing a shift in the reading frame.

Step-by-step explanation:

Frameshift mutation is the correct answer. Frameshift mutations occur when nucleotides are inserted or deleted from the DNA sequence, causing a shift in the reading frame of the codons. This disrupts the grouping of codons and leads to the production of a completely different protein.

For example, if a single nucleotide is deleted, all the subsequent codons will be shifted, resulting in a non-functional protein being produced. Similarly, if a single nucleotide is inserted, the reading frame will shift and the resulting protein will be altered.

Therefore, frameshift mutations are the consequence of mispairing due to tautomeric shifts in nucleotides.