chadn737 Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 If a colony has a mutation that requires it to be supplemented by a nutrient to survive, then it follows you can work backwards from what survives on what...
theanonymous Posted July 17, 2014 Author Posted July 17, 2014 What do they mean by "loss function mutation" though? Are the numbers I have to put in representative of the number of colonies that survive? Would the answers be: Hec: 1,2,4,9 (colonies that lose function in this media) Trp: 2,4,5,8 Hec + Trp: 0 If a colony has a mutation that requires it to be supplemented by a nutrient to survive, then it follows you can work backwards from what survives on what... you still there?
hypervalent_iodine Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 A loss of function mutation is a mutation that causes whatever gene the mutation is in to have attenuated functionality (or none at all). This would be something done prior to growing them on the media in the question. So, your answers are incorrect. If 1, 2, 4 and 9 had a Hec loss of function, then why would they not grow on media supplemented with +Hec?
theanonymous Posted July 17, 2014 Author Posted July 17, 2014 (edited) A loss of function mutation is a mutation that causes whatever gene the mutation is in to have attenuated functionality (or none at all). This would be something done prior to growing them on the media in the question. So, your answers are incorrect. If 1, 2, 4 and 9 had a Hec loss of function, then why would they not grow on media supplemented with +Hec? So do I add numbers? This is due in 40 min and I still have no clue as to what numbers I should be putting in. Edited July 17, 2014 by theanonymous
hypervalent_iodine Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 Look, it's not our job to do your assignment for you. I can only assume you've had longer than the last few hours to do this and if not, then certainly longer than that to review the content before attempting this. That you have so little time left is not our fault and I have no sympathy for your predicament. No, you do not add numbers. Do some research on what a loss of function mutation means if you are still struggling with the concept and have another read of chadn737's post.
theanonymous Posted July 17, 2014 Author Posted July 17, 2014 (edited) That's exactly what I did! " If a colony has a mutation that requires it to be supplemented by a nutrient to survive, then it follows you can work backwards from what survives on what..." My reasoning was: 5 colonies grew/survived on both Hec and Trp. 4 are missing. My question was - would I just determine the colony numbers that aren't in each plate. I take it by the response I've gotten, no I wouldn't. But that brings me back to square 1. How exactly do I go about answering the problem by using the diagrams I'm given. I have somewhat of an understanding of the concept, but I'm still apprehensive about the math part. I've spent 3 hours looking up and down the slides my teacher posted online and nowhere did he put up an example problem similar to this. Neither does my Genetics book address a problem. The reason why I came here was for clarity but instead i'm getting even more ambiguity. Everytime I ask for help on a forum on 1, single problem, I'm told "why don't you do you're own homework, stop being lazy etc etc" I spend 3+ hours a day doing these long HW assignments that my teacher posts online and make an honest effort to do them efficiently on my own. My teacher refuses to give us "hints" every so often and he hasn't showed us how to go about answering certain problems. I could sit here all night defending my work ethic but I know for a fact that it's a waste of time. Edited July 17, 2014 by theanonymous
hypervalent_iodine Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 I don't really see where math is involved in this question? Label the colonies as a, b, c, d, etc., if you like, it makes no difference. Think about it some more. The plates labelled +Hec contain media supplemented with whatever the Hec nutrient is. So if you have something with a loss of function in the Hec gene, would you expect it to grow there or not? What about the colonies with the other loss of function - would they grow in that media?
chadn737 Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 I'm not doing your homework for you. "Loss of function" is a very basic concept in genetics and you can use google I presume. I'll give you hints on the right track, but the rest is up to you. The "circles" represent the colony. The numbers are just the colony identification.
theanonymous Posted July 17, 2014 Author Posted July 17, 2014 I don't really see where math is involved in this question? Label the colonies as a, b, c, d, etc., if you like, it makes no difference. Think about it some more. The plates labelled +Hec contain media supplemented with whatever the Hec nutrient is. So if you have something with a loss of function in the Hec gene, would you expect it to grow there or not? What about the colonies with the other loss of function - would they grow in that media? If I have something with a loss of function in the Hec gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. If I have something with a loss of function in the Trp gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. I've already gotten that. But the question says: Indicate which colonies have a loss of function mutation And I'm asking, does this mean that it's asking - in otherwords - which colonies isn't growing when it should (but it can't because of a mutation on the Hec gene/Trp gene)?
hypervalent_iodine Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 If I have something with a loss of function in the Hec gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. If I have something with a loss of function in the Trp gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. I've already gotten that. You need to review this. I asked if it would grow in the +Hec media. But the question says: Indicate which colonies have a loss of function mutation And I'm asking, does this mean that it's asking - in otherwords - which colonies isn't growing when it should (but it can't because of a mutation on the Hec gene/Trp gene)? Yes and no. It means exactly what it says, really. I think you are struggling with what a loss of function means in this context and helping you beyond what has already been said to you would mean giving you the answer, which is anti to the purpose of this part of the forum. Please have another read through the thread and what a loss of function means.
chadn737 Posted July 17, 2014 Posted July 17, 2014 If I have something with a loss of function in the Hec gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. If I have something with a loss of function in the Trp gene, then no I would not expect it to grow. I've already gotten that. But the question says: Indicate which colonies have a loss of function mutation And I'm asking, does this mean that it's asking - in otherwords - which colonies isn't growing when it should (but it can't because of a mutation on the Hec gene/Trp gene)? If a colony will only grow if supplemented by a nutrient, that tells you that it can't produce that nutrient on its own.
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