Question

you have two populations of mockturtles (Testudo bogus) that differ in shell patternings. When grown under identical conditions, population A has solid green shells, while population B has marbled blue and yellow shells. Your research has identified the alice gene as the source of this variation.

Which of the following observations would make you conclude that these phenotypic differences were caused by epigenetic differences in the alice gene between the two populations?

a. Population A and B have identical DNA sequences for the alice gene, but the alice gene has less DNA methylation in population B.

b. More than one of these observations would support your conclusion.

c. Population B has a silent mutation in the alice gene, while population A has the ancestral sequence.

d. Population A is homozygous for a deletion of the alice gene, while population B has two functional copies.

e. Population B has a nonsense mutation in the alice gene, while population A has the ancestral sequence.

Answer 1

Epigenetics is the study phenotype changes which is heritable in which there is no alterations in the DNA sequence.

The following observations conclude that these phenotypic differences were caused by epigenetic differences in the alice gene between the two populations:

A) Population A and B have identical DNA sequences for the alice gene, but the alice gene has less DNA methylation in population B.

D)Population A is homozygous for a deletion of the alice gene, while population B has two functional copies.

E) Population B has a nonsense mutation in the alice gene, while population A has the ancestral sequence.

So the answer is B) More than one of these observations would support your conclusion.