Which small-scale mutation would be most likely to have the greatest negative effect on the functioning of a protein?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A base substitution (A) may or may not cause an amino acid change in the protein depending on the type of substitution and the location in the gene. A base deletion near the end of the coding sequence (C) may not affect the protein much since many amino acids would have already been synthesized. Deletion of three bases near the start of the coding sequence (D) would cause the loss of only one amino acid, which may not have a significant effect on the protein's function. A base insertion near the end of the coding sequence (E) may cause a frameshift mutation, but it would only affect a few amino acids near the end of the protein. On the other hand, a base deletion near the start of a gene (B) can have the greatest negative effect because it can cause a frameshift mutation that changes all the amino acids downstream from the mutation, potentially altering the protein's structure and function drastically.

Which Small-Scale Mutation Would Be Most Likely to Have the Greatest