<u>Answer</u>:
1. Gene expression may be controlled by epigenetic mechanisms.
The base pair sequence of a gene is not solely responsible for the sequence of amino acids. A gene may have several allele/variants whose expression is controlled by multiple factors. Epigenetic processes such as DNA methylation, do not involve changes in the DNA sequence. Instead they influence the protein amino acid sequence by changes in the process of transcription or even translation.
2. The mutation introduced a stop codon into the middle of the mRNA molecule.
The protein will be shorter if the point mutation causes the creation of a stop codon in the interior of the mRNA strand. Thus, the remaining sequence after the mutation will no longer be used to create the rest of the protein.
3. Pre-mRNA is not edited, and is used as mRNA.
Because no introns and exons are included in the model, the pre-mRNA is not edited. During this step, the introns are removed from the DNA strand. However, due to the fact that the model does not define them and thus differentiate between them and the exons, the pre-mRNA will be used as mRNA.
4. The process of translation in the beetle is similar to other organisms, but involves a unique genetic code.
The processes of translation and transcription are identical in all organisms. The only difference is the DNA sequence itself, which is species or organism specific. Thus, as it is a new beetle species, its genetic code will be unique. However, it will be translated and transcripted in the same manner as that in all other species.Their mRNA will also have and use the same nucleic acids.
5. The removes introns from pre-mRNA.
The pre-mRNA includes both introns and exons. However, only exons are used in the protein synthesis, whereas the introns are removed during the pre-mRNA stage.
6. Each of many tRNA molecules contains an anticodon, and it binds to a specific amino acid.
The anticodon of a tRNA molecule is amino acid specific. Thus, it can bind to one or a few specific mRNA codons.
7. RNA contains uracil (U) instead of thymine (T).
Both DNA and RNA have phosphate groups bound to a nitrogenous base. However, the single stranded RNA has uracil instead of the thymine found in the double stranded DNA. Also, both RNA and DNA have cytosine and guanine.
