How could you best predict the maximum number of alleles for a single gene whose polypeptide product is known?
A) Search the population for all phenotypic variants of this polypeptide.
B) Count the number of amino acids in the polypeptide.
C) Mate all known genotypes and collect all possible offspring different from the parents.
D) Measure the rate of new mutations in the species and estimate the number since it first evolved.
E) Count the number of DNA nucleotides that are in the code for the polypeptides.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The maximum number of alleles for a single gene is theoretically determined by the number of nucleotide positions in the gene that can vary. Since each position in the DNA sequence that codes for the polypeptide can potentially mutate to four different nucleotides (A, T, C, G), counting the number of DNA nucleotides in the code for the polypeptides gives the best prediction of the maximum number of alleles.

How Could You Best Predict the Maximum Number of Alleles