Question

model 3 - comparing the cytochrome c gene

1. cytochrome c is a protein used in cellular respiration in many species. refer to model 3 to answer the following questions about cytochrome c.

a. how many different species are represented in the cytochrome c amino acid sequences?
b. what do the individual letters represent?
c. what do the asterisks represent?

Explanation:

a. By counting the different labels at the start of each row (Human, Tuna, Whale, Monkey, Chicken, Pig, Yeast, Fly), we can determine the number of species.
b. In protein - amino acid sequences, single - letter codes are used to represent different amino acids.
c. In such sequence alignments, asterisks often denote positions where the amino acid is the same across the compared species.

Answer:

a. 8 species
b. Amino acids
c. Positions with identical amino acids across species