Mutations can add or remove nucleotides
Other mutations involve the insertion or deletion of nucleotides. This may involve anything from a single nucleotide up to millions. Deletions occur as a result of the replication machinery somehow 'skipping' one or more nucleotides. If the deletion is a single nucleotide, or anything other than a multiple of three, the ribosome will be thrown out of its correct reading frame, and a completely new set of triplet codons will be read (Figure 11.18). This is known as a frameshift mutation, and will in most cases result in catastrophic changes to the final protein product. If the deletion is a multiple of three nucleotides, the reading frame will be preserved and the effect on the protein less drastic.
A frameshift mutation results in a change to the reading frame, and an altered sequence of amino acids results downstream of the point where it occurs.
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