《分子遗传学》 Mutation, recombination and DAN Repair.ppt

Chapter 6 Mutation, recombination and DAN Repair 6.1 Mutation The Nature of Mutation Mutation is defined as an inherited change in genetic information; the descendants may be cells produced by cell division or individual organisms produced by reproduction. The Importance of Mutations Mutations are both the sustainer of life and the cause of great suffering. Much of genetics focuses on how variants produced by mutation are inherited; genetic crosses are meaningless if all individuals are identically homozygous for the same alleles. Mutations serve as important tools of genetic analysis; the solution to almost any genetic problem begins with a good set of mutants. Mutations are also useful for probing fundamental biological processes. Morgan and his students discovered many principles of heredity by studying mutation in Drosophila melanogaster. Shown here are several common mutations. Categories of Mutations In multicellular organisms, we can distinguish between two broad categories of mutations: somatic mutations and germ-line mutations. Somatic mutations arise in somatic tissues, which do not produce gametes. These mutations are passed on to other cells through the process of mitosis, which leads to a population of genetically identical cells (a clone). Germ-line mutations arise in cells that ultimately produce gametes. These mutations can be passed to future generations, producing individual organisms that carry the mutation in all their somatic and germ-line cells There are two basic classes of mutations: somatic mutations and germ-line mutations Gene mutations: mutations have been partitioned into those that affect a single gene; Chromosome mutations: those that affect the number or structure of chromosomes. Now, with the development of DNA sequencing, gene mutations and chromosome mutations are distinguished somewhat arbitrarily on the basis of the size of the DNA lesion. Nevertheless, it is useful to use the term chromosome mu