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Summarize what the differences in cytochrome C sequencing tells us about our evolutionary ancestry. How many amino acid differences between a rat and a fruit fly? Human and a yeast cell?

User Angordeyev
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Cytochrome C is a protein found in the mitochondria of all eukaryotic cells that plays a vital role in the process of cellular respiration. By comparing the amino acid sequence of cytochrome C between different species, scientists can infer information about their evolutionary relationships.

The number of amino acid differences between cytochrome C in different species indicates the amount of time that has passed since those species diverged from a common ancestor. The more amino acid differences there are between two species, the longer ago they diverged from a common ancestor.

For example, the cytochrome C sequences of a rat and a fruit fly differ by around 50 amino acids, indicating that they diverged from a common ancestor around 800 million years ago. On the other hand, the cytochrome C sequences of a human and a yeast cell differ by around 150 amino acids, indicating that they diverged from a common ancestor around 1.5 billion years ago.

Overall, cytochrome C sequencing can provide important information about the evolutionary history of different species and can help us understand how they are related to each other.

User Zoka
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