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Diagram of the Ames test. 1 – Add rat liver extract and Salmonella to control tube. Add rat liver extract, possible mutagen, and Salmonella to experimental tube. The Salmonella strain in this test requires histidine. 2 – Plant and incubate both samples using medium lacking histidine. 3 – Compare growth on plates to identify revertants, which suggest mutagen causes mutations. In the image the plate without the possible mutagen has a few colonies (control with natural revertants). The plate from the sample with the possible mutagen has many colonies (high number of revertants his- to his+).
The Ames test is used to identify mutagenic, potentially carcinogenic chemicals. A Salmonella histidine auxotroph is used as the test strain, exposed to a potential mutagen/carcinogen. The number of reversion mutants capable of growing in the absence of supplied histidine is counted and compared with the number of natural reversion mutants that arise in the absence of the potential mutagen.
  • What mutation is used as an indicator of mutation rate in the Ames test?
  • Why can the Ames test work as a test for carcinogenicity?

Key concepts and summary

  • A mutation is a heritable change in DNA. A mutation may lead to a change in the amino-acid sequence of a protein, possibly affecting its function.
  • A point mutation affects a single base pair. A point mutation may cause a silent mutation if the mRNA codon codes for the same amino acid, a missense mutation if the mRNA codon codes for a different amino acid, or a nonsense mutation if the mRNA codon becomes a stop codon.
  • Missense mutations may retain function, depending on the chemistry of the new amino acid and its location in the protein. Nonsense mutations produce truncated and frequently nonfunctional proteins.
  • A frameshift mutation results from an insertion or deletion of a number of nucleotides that is not a multiple of three. The change in reading frame alters every amino acid after the point of the mutation and results in a nonfunctional protein.
  • Spontaneous mutations occur through DNA replication errors, whereas induced mutations occur through exposure to a mutagen .
  • Mutagenic agents are frequently carcinogenic but not always. However, nearly all carcinogens are mutagenic.
  • Chemical mutagens include base analogs and chemicals that modify existing bases. In both cases, mutations are introduced after several rounds of DNA replication.
  • Ionizing radiation, such as X-rays and γ-rays, leads to breakage of the phosphodiester backbone of DNA and can also chemically modify bases to alter their base-pairing rules.
  • Nonionizing radiation like ultraviolet light may introduce pyrimidine (thymine) dimers, which, during DNA replication and transcription, may introduce frameshift or point mutations.
  • Cells have mechanisms to repair naturally occurring mutations. DNA polymerase has proofreading activity. Mismatch repair is a process to repair incorrectly incorporated bases after DNA replication has been completed.
  • Pyrimidine dimers can also be repaired. In nucleotide excision repair (dark repair) , enzymes recognize the distortion introduced by the pyrimidine dimer and replace the damaged strand with the correct bases, using the undamaged DNA strand as a template. Bacteria and other organisms may also use direct repair , in which the photolyase enzyme, in the presence of visible light, breaks apart the pyrimidines.
  • Through comparison of growth on the complete plate and lack of growth on media lacking specific nutrients, specific loss-of-function mutants called auxotrophs can be identified.
  • The Ames test is an inexpensive method that uses auxotrophic bacteria to measure mutagenicity of a chemical compound. Mutagenicity is an indicator of carcinogenic potential.

Fill in the blank

A chemical mutagen that is structurally similar to a nucleotide but has different base-pairing rules is called a ________.

nucleoside analog

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The enzyme used in light repair to split thymine dimers is called ________.

photolyase

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The phenotype of an organism that is most commonly observed in nature is called the ________.

wild type

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True/false

Carcinogens are typically mutagenic.

True

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Short answer

Why is it more likely that insertions or deletions will be more detrimental to a cell than point mutations?

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Questions & Answers

What are the factors that affect demand for a commodity
Florence Reply
differentiate between demand and supply giving examples
Lambiv Reply
differentiated between demand and supply using examples
Lambiv
what is labour ?
Lambiv
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Venny Reply
how is the graph works?I don't fully understand
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information
Eliyee
devaluation
Eliyee
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WARKISA
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Lambiv
multiple choice question
Aster Reply
appreciation
Eliyee
explain perfect market
Lindiwe Reply
In economics, a perfect market refers to a theoretical construct where all participants have perfect information, goods are homogenous, there are no barriers to entry or exit, and prices are determined solely by supply and demand. It's an idealized model used for analysis,
Ezea
What is ceteris paribus?
Shukri Reply
other things being equal
AI-Robot
When MP₁ becomes negative, TP start to decline. Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 • Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of lab
Kelo
Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 • Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of labour (APL) and marginal product of labour (MPL)
Kelo
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Shukri
Can I ask you other question?
Shukri
what is monopoly mean?
Habtamu Reply
What is different between quantity demand and demand?
Shukri Reply
Quantity demanded refers to the specific amount of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a give price and within a specific time period. Demand, on the other hand, is a broader concept that encompasses the entire relationship between price and quantity demanded
Ezea
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Shukri
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Lilia Reply
what is the difference between economic growth and development
Fiker Reply
Economic growth as an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services within an economy.but Economic development as a broader concept that encompasses not only economic growth but also social & human well being.
Shukri
production function means
Jabir
What do you think is more important to focus on when considering inequality ?
Abdisa Reply
any question about economics?
Awais Reply
sir...I just want to ask one question... Define the term contract curve? if you are free please help me to find this answer 🙏
Asui
it is a curve that we get after connecting the pareto optimal combinations of two consumers after their mutually beneficial trade offs
Awais
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Asui
In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities, where neither p
Cornelius
In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities,
Cornelius
Suppose a consumer consuming two commodities X and Y has The following utility function u=X0.4 Y0.6. If the price of the X and Y are 2 and 3 respectively and income Constraint is birr 50. A,Calculate quantities of x and y which maximize utility. B,Calculate value of Lagrange multiplier. C,Calculate quantities of X and Y consumed with a given price. D,alculate optimum level of output .
Feyisa Reply
Answer
Feyisa
c
Jabir
the market for lemon has 10 potential consumers, each having an individual demand curve p=101-10Qi, where p is price in dollar's per cup and Qi is the number of cups demanded per week by the i th consumer.Find the market demand curve using algebra. Draw an individual demand curve and the market dema
Gsbwnw Reply
suppose the production function is given by ( L, K)=L¼K¾.assuming capital is fixed find APL and MPL. consider the following short run production function:Q=6L²-0.4L³ a) find the value of L that maximizes output b)find the value of L that maximizes marginal product
Abdureman
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Source:  OpenStax, Microbiology. OpenStax CNX. Nov 01, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12087/1.4
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