3.4.7 Investigating diversity

Question 1

What are the 5 ways of assessing genetic diversity within or between species?

Answer 1

-base sequence of DNA
-base sequence of mRNA
-amino acid sequence of proteins
-observable characteristics
-immunological studies

Question 2

What is immunological studies?

Answer 2

extent of a species-specific antibody binding to the complementary antigen in a related species (i.e. a greater % binding = more closely related)

Question 3

When comparing variation between species use…

Answer 3

DNA - shows minor variations

Question 4

When comparing variation between species use…

Answer 4

amino acid sequences (to mitigate disruption)

Question 5

What gene/ protein needs to be selected for comparing?

Answer 5

a gene/ protein occurring in all species of interest - e.g. respiratory proteins will allow comparisons across kingdoms, however haemoglobins would be more limited

Question 6

What % of the data does +- 2SD include?

Answer 6

95% of data

Question 7

Which measure of diversity is most accurate and why is it not used?

Answer 7

DNA sequencing
-difficult to extract just exons (and not introns - which would give varied results)
-expensive
-DNA is tightly packed in the nucleus, so is hard to access

Question 8

Which measure of diversity is the next best measure of comparison?

Answer 8

mRNA
-only contains coding sequences
-single stranded, much shorted so takes less time
-not in the nucleus so is easier to access

Question 9

What are the problems with using mRNA to measure diversity?

Answer 9

it gets broken down quickly

Question 10

What is the problem with using amino acid sequence to measure diversity?

Answer 10

degenerative nature, so amino acid sequence cannot guarantee the DNA sequence will be the same