Imagine a moth with two forms of a gene for color. One form of the gene gives th
ID: 175808 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine a moth with two forms of a gene for color. One form of the gene gives the moth a light color; the other form gives it a dark color. This moth rests on the bark of a tree that is covered by light-colored lichens. Due to environmental pollution, the lichens are killed, leaving the bark dark-colored. In response, the moth switches from a light to dark color exterior. Describe in your own words the two genetic processes central in the conversation of the genetic information (genotype) into the observable phenotype of the resulting moth.Explanation / Answer
The ability to chage colur in the mots have been extensively researched by evolution geneticists. This change in phenotype is not due the change in the genotype, but this is due to some transposable elements in the cortex gene of moths.
This jumping gene is not present in the DNA but it is present in the intron region which is spliced and does not form into proteins. As a consequence of industrial revolution, when soot turned black these moths were able to transform its colur because of presence of such gene in the transposable elements. This is one of the famous examples of survival of fittest through natural selection in due course of evolution. Moths show such activity in order to protect itself from predators.