Question

A. Which type of mutation do you feel would be most likely to be influenced by natural selection, those that result in changes of the third codon position, or those that result in changes of the first codon position? Explain your reasoning.

B. In many animals inbreeding among close relatives reduces the ability of their offspring to survive. Explain why this occurs.

Please correct answer. Thanks

Answer 1

Please find the answers below:

Answer A: The nucleotide codon is a three-letter sequence of nitrogenous bases which determine the nature of amino acid synthesized from them. It is essential to note here that the third position of the nucleotide triplet codon is responsible for changing the nature of amino acid synthesized. However, many codons with same or different third codon do encode for the same amino acid. For example, all codons GGA, GGC, GGT and GGG encode for amino acid glycine. Hence, wobbling at this third position will be a futile process and it will not bring about any mutation. Hence, wobbling at the first position would server as a better mutational change and hence lead to permanent changes in the organisms.

Answer B: Inbreeding leads to accumulation of similar types of alleles in the offpsrings of a couple. This has been shown to often accumulate recessive alleles in the offsprings which leads to accumulation of genotypes which are usually less stable in context to natural selection. Moreover, it reduces the chances of natural selection due to loss of variation. Hence, inbreeding among close relatives reduces the ability to suvive.