Question

Insertion sequences can be identified by which of the following?

a)Presence of an integrase enzyme
b)High level of mutation
c)Presence of inverted repeats at the end of the sequence
d)Presence of a reverse transcriptase enzyme

Answer 1

Insertion sequences are identified by the presence of inverted repeats at the ends of the sequence, which are essential for their transposition into new genomic locations.

Step-by-step explanation:

Insertion sequences can be identified by the presence of inverted repeats at the ends of the sequence. These short, inverted sequences are crucial to the mechanism of transposition, helping to recognize and execute the insertion of the sequence into new locations within the genome. Integrase enzymes, which are different from the reverse transcriptase enzymes used by retroviruses and retrotransposons, may facilitate this process, but the presence of integrase alone is not a distinctive feature of insertion sequences.