Nonfunctional copies of normal genes,which lack both introns and promoters,and are important in estimating evolutionary ages of phylogenetic relationships,are ________.
A) transgenes
B) retrotransposons
C) processed retrogenes
D) processed pseudogenes
E) duplicated pseudogenes

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Nonfunctional copies of normal genes lacking both introns and promoters are referred to as processed pseudogenes. They are formed by reverse transcriptase-mediated conversion of an mRNA molecule into a DNA molecule, which is then inserted back into the genome. Processed pseudogenes are useful in estimating evolutionary ages of phylogenetic relationships because their lack of promoters, introns, and other regulatory regions allows for a more reliable comparison of their sequences across different species.

Nonfunctional Copies of Normal Genes,which Lack Both Introns and Promoters,and