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AAT Bioquest

What are the major types of mutations?

Posted March 25, 2021


Answer

Several types of mutations can occur in an organism. Seven of the major types of mutations include:

  • Missense mutation - is a point mutation where a change in a single DNA base pair produces a codon that codes for a different amino acid in the resulting protein.
  • Nonsense mutation - is a point mutation where a change in a single DNA base pair results in a stop codon.
  • Insertion mutation - is a mutation where one or more DNA base pairs are added to a DNA sequence.
  • Deletion mutation - is a mutation where one or more DNA base pairs are removed from a DNA sequence during DNA replication.
  • Duplication mutation - is a chromosomal mutation where a section of a chromosome is replicated one or more times.
  • Frameshift mutation - is a mutation where the addition or removal of DNA base pairs alters the DNA sequence's reading frame such that it is not divisible by three.
  • Repeat expansion - is a mutation where a short DNA sequence is repeated multiple times in a row
Additional resources

Mutation, Repair and Recombination

Gelite™ Safe DNA Gel Stain