A portion of DNA that encodes a specific protein is

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The question asks: 'A portion of DNA that encodes a specific protein is' and provides an answer field indicating the correct choice is 'a gene.'

Here, there are no answer options supplied in the question payload, so I cannot analyze each alternative as I normally would. Nonetheless, I can explain the concept directly.

- Understanding the term: A gene is a basic unit of heredity that corresponds to a specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA (or RNA in some organisms) used to produce a functional product, typically a protein or a molecule of RNA. When a DNA segment contains the necessary coding sequence and regulatory elements to produce a particular protein, that segment is defined as a gene.

- Why this is correct: Since a gene encompasses the information necessary to synthesize a particular protein, identifying a DNA portion that encodes a specific protein aligns precisely with the definition of a gene. The sequence contains the coding region (and often regulatory regions) that directs transcription and translation to yield that protein.

- Why other hypothetical options (if they existed) might be incorrect:
  - If an option suggested that a gene is only a regulatory region, that would be incorrect because regulatory regions control gene expression but are not themselves the entire encoding segment for a specific protein.
  - If an option claimed that a protein is encoded by multiple unrelated DNA regions, that would be misleading; while gene expression can involve introns and exons, the functional coding sequence responsible for the protein is contained within a gene or a transcription unit.
  - If an option stated that an entire chromosome encodes a single protein, that would be inaccurate; a chromosome contains many genes, each encoding different proteins.

- Summary takeaway: The most precise answer to the concept is that the portion of DNA encoding a specific protein is a gene, because a gene comprises the DNA sequence that contains the information necessary to produce that protein via transcription and translation.

Biol-100-OLH-OMH-ONH Quiz #9

A portion of DNA that encodes a specific protein is

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