In the 1930's Barbara McClintock used corn to confirm Thomas Hunt Morgan's theory of genetic crossing over. She traced the movem
ent of a specific site on chromosome 9 in corn during the formation of sex cells or gametes. McClintock noticed that the crossing over of this segment resulted in changes in physical traits of the corn. McClintock also hypothesized that segments of chromosomes could be broken or lost during the processes of mitosis and meiosis. McClintock compared chromosome 9 in both yellow and blue kernalled corn. She observed that the gene for blue kernals could jump out of its normal location and reinsert itself somewhere else on the chromosome. This resulted in not yellow or blue corn kernals, but rather spotted kernals. Barbara McClintock's research provided important evidence for the presence of
A) deletion. B) jumping genes. C) transcription. D) nondisjunction.
She provided important evidence for the presence of JUMPING GENES. She challenged existing concepts of what genes were capable of when she discovered that some genes could be mobile.
Jumping genes are basically transposons that have the ability to move from one location within a genome to other location. These transposons or Transposable elements (TEs) were first discovered by Maize geneticist Barbara McClintock in the year 1940.
For example-
If the transposon changes their location and shift to a position which is adjacent to a pigment producing gene, then the cell would not produce solid yellow color but instead will produce streaked yellow color.
Here in this piece of information, the yellow or blue corn kernals produces spotted kernals and hence this is due to presence of jumping genes
