Question

A researcher wants to mutagenize an organism. He is not in need of a large number of mutants but is more concerned with being able to find and then to amplify the mutated sequence. Which of the following would therefore be more useful?A) ionizing radiationB) UV radiationC) transposon insertionD) a chemical mutagenE) search for spontaneous mutant

Answer 1

Answer: C) transposon insertion

Explanation:

A transposon is a mutagen. It is a DNA sequence. It can create or reverse the mutations and can alter the identity of the cell's genetic material as well as the genomic size of the host DNA.

It can cause mutations in several ways like transposon can insert itself into the functional gene of the host organism and damages the gene. It can be inserted into the exons, introns and in the flanking regions of the genes this way the transposon can either destroy or alter the function of the gene.

The transposon insertion is the ideal option as the DNA sequence of transposon will also be amplified along with the mutated genome. Thus can help in detection of the mutation.