Hello, I was wondering if someone could help me out with this question.

"If the gene for polyphenoloxidase is "old" in evolutionary terms, what do we expect to see when looking at activity in other plant species?"

From my limited knowledge on evolution, I want to say that that there would be more variance in the polyphenoloxidase genes in different species due to a longer period of time as well as more random mutations.

Does this make sense or does anyone else have a clue at what they are specifically asking?

Thank you!!!

If something is evolutionary important, it's well preserved throughout evolution and is not much mutated.

 

An example: the 16S rRNA (16S ribosomal RNA) is very well-preserved across different species: its function is identical in all, and is present in every living thing. To compare with general DNA: in order for 2 entities to be considered of being members of the same species, they must:

• Have > 70% identical DNA
• Have > 97% identical 16S rRNA (because not large mutations are found across different species)

It's quite similar to our own eukaryotic 18S rRNA

 

If, for proteins, a specific amino acid is very important, you'd see it be well-preserved throughout evolution with few mutations or SNPs.

Edited January 28, 20178 yr by Function

Thank you!! This was very helpful