Michael R. Pina Week 2

=Week 2=

(a) and (b)
Are all the white alleles the same?

No, there are only a few amino acid sequences that are responsible for pigmentation (near base pair 80); if it is any other of the amino acids then the resultant flower will be white.

(c)
Green-1

Upper (green) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTACTGGCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT Lower (green) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTACTGGCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT

Green-2

Upper (blue) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTACTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT Lower (yellow) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTGGTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT

Red

Upper (red) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTTCTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT Lower (white) CAGCTATGACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGTTCTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT

White

Upper (white) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGGTCTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT Lower (white) CAGCTATAACCGAGATTGATGTCTAGTGCGATAAGCCCCAAAGATCGGCACATTTTGTGCGCTATACAAAGGTTAGTGGTCTGTCGGCAGTAGTAGGGGGCGT

By an eye-ball comparison it is easy to note that all of the DNA sequences are identical until base pair 79.

(d)
To create a true breeding purple flower, a mutant was created by adding the DNA sequence "ACTTCT" starting at base pair 79. "ACTTCT" codes for the amino acid sequence Tyr-Phe. It was found that Tyr causes blue pigmentation and Phe cause red pigmentation, and when placed together they result in a purple mutant. For more detail on this process, take a look at my lab notebook.