Which of the following describes the most likely effect that a single base substitution in the middle of gene's sequence will have on the protein the gene encodes?

Question

All amino acids following the substitution would be affected because the reading frame would be altered.
The protein would be shorter because the correct tRNA would not be able to interact with the ribosome.
A single amino acid would change because pairing of mRNA and tRNA in the ribosome would change.
There would be no change because the genetic code is ambiguous.

Answer 1

The most likely effect of a single base substitution in the middle of a gene's sequence is:

A single amino acid would change because pairing of mRNA and tRNA in the ribosome would change.

This type of mutation is typically referred to as a missense mutation, where the change in a single base pair leads to the incorporation of a different amino acid in the protein sequence. Depending on the specific substitution, this could affect the protein's function or stability. It's important to note that this outcome assumes the substitution does not introduce a stop codon or alter the reading frame (which would result in a frameshift mutation). The other options either misrepresent the nature of point mutations or the redundancy of the genetic code.