Which mutation can occur without changing the amino acid due to codon redundancy?

Which mutation can occur without changing the amino acid due to codon redundancy?

• A. Silent Mutation
• B. Substitution Mutation
• C. Inversion Chromosomal Mutation
• D. Translocation Chromosomal Mutation

Answer: (A)

Codon redundancy in the genetic code means that several codons can specify the same amino acid. A mutation that changes one codon to another synonymous codon leaves the amino acid sequence unchanged, so the protein is the same even though the DNA sequence differs. For example, glycine is encoded by GGU, GGC, GGA, and GGG; changing GGU to GGC keeps glycine in place, so there’s no change in the protein. Other types involve changes that can alter the amino acid or disrupt gene structure: a substitution mutation can lead to a different amino acid or a stop codon, while inversions and translocations rearrange larger chromosome segments and often disrupt gene order or dosage. Therefore, the silent mutation is the one that can occur without changing the amino acid due to codon redundancy.

Codon redundancy in the genetic code means that several codons can specify the same amino acid. A mutation that changes one codon to another synonymous codon leaves the amino acid sequence unchanged, so the protein is the same even though the DNA sequence differs. For example, glycine is encoded by GGU, GGC, GGA, and GGG; changing GGU to GGC keeps glycine in place, so there’s no change in the protein.

Other types involve changes that can alter the amino acid or disrupt gene structure: a substitution mutation can lead to a different amino acid or a stop codon, while inversions and translocations rearrange larger chromosome segments and often disrupt gene order or dosage. Therefore, the silent mutation is the one that can occur without changing the amino acid due to codon redundancy.