Question

Explain what is meant by a polymorphic DNA locus.

basic biotechnology

Answer 1

Answer:

When there are more than one allele present in the locus of a gene in a population,then it is known as polymorphic gene. Most of the time in this case there are various numbers of polymorphism in the organisms. These polymorphisms are mostly SNPs(single nucleotide polymorphism).

In case of SNPs at a particular locus of a gene there are different nucleotide present in a population. These differences creates variation in the population. Polymorphism is the reason why all the organisms look and function in a different way, though they are of same species.It is also created by deletions, translocations etc. These can be found out by SNP interpretation or Microsatellites (SSR) assessment. Some of the polymorphic portions of the gene are generally silent and hence don't interfere in protein synthesis. However there are also some polymorphism which can negatively impact the protein synthesis . Since polymorphism is somewhat similar to mutation ,to clear the doubt a thumb rule has been set. It states that for a trait to be considered as a polymorphic trait, it should have atleast 1% appearance in a particular population.

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