Question

The agouti gene, when expressed in mice, makes them obese, ravenous, yellow, and prone to diabetes. The agouti phenotype is dominant. During ovulation an agouti mouse is given a drug that methylates (or shuts off the agouti gene). She is then bred to another mouse and Igives birth to a litter of baby mice, none of whom have the agouti phenotype. Which of the following is accurate? O an epigenetic change in the mother was passed to her offspring her offspring inherit the methylated form of the agouti gene the agouti gene will be inactivated for the entire lives of her offspring all of these are correct

Answer 1

D) All of these are correct.

Agouti gene gives a yellow coat color in mice when it is in the unmethylated state inside the cell. It is obese and prone to diabetes. When the agouti gene is methylated, the coat color is brown in mice and they are less prone to diseases like cancer and diabetes. Thus, all the statements in the above experiment are correct. When the mice are given a drug that methylates the agouti gene this gene is transmitted to the progeny in the next generation. This mechanism of the change in the expression of the gene in the next generation due to gene modification is called as epigenetics. In the new generation of mice, the agouti gene will be inactivated due to methylation on the promoter.