Mutations and Genetic Differences

What is the impact of changing a T to a C at position 3 in a genetic sequence?

True or false: "The change from a T to a C at position 3 caused all of the changes that exist between the cichlid and coelacanth/frog."

Answer:

The above statement is false.

Explanation:

As we can infer from the question, Thymine is being replaced by Cytosine at position 3 of a genetic sequence. This means that only a single change is being made in the genetic sequence. This change will cause a faulty protein to be formed. The faulty protein will be associated with this genetic sequence. Hence, not all of the changes existing between the cichlid and coelacanth/frog will be associated with this single base change. However, instead of replacement of C with T, if an addition or deletion of a base might have occurred, then the entire genetic sequence would have been altered causing many changes.

Point Mutation:

These are the mutations that are caused by the exchange of one nucleotide. This can be a harmful mutation. The change of nucleotide results in defective RNA. Defective mRNA form a different Protein. This may cause loss of function of protein. Genetic diversity can be caused by other types of mutation also. For example - deletion mutation.

Therefore, the given statement about cichlid and coelacanth frog is incorrect. To know more about mutation, refer to this link.