Question

Which of the following is true regarding the assumptions in the method of constructing the Dayhoff scoring matrix?

(a) it is assumed that each amino acid position is equally mutable

(b) it is assumed that each amino acid position is not equally mutable

(c) it is assumed that each amino acid position is not mutable at all

(d) sites do not vary in their degree of mutability

The question was asked in quiz.

Question is from Use of Scoring Matrices and Gap Penalties in Sequence Alignments topic in chapter Sequence Alignment of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

Correct choice is (a) it is assumed that each amino acid position is equally mutable

Explanation: In this process, first, it is assumed that each amino acid position is equally mutable, whereas, in fact, sites vary considerably in their degree of mutability. Mutagenesis hot spots are well known in molecular genetics, and variations in mutability of different amino acid sites in proteins are well known.