[Campbell Biology P.614] The text discusses how different genes evolve at different rates. W... | Practice Question

The text discusses how different genes evolve at different rates. Which of the following statements accurately describes the utility of ribosomal RNA rRNA and mitochondrial DNA mtDNA in phylogenetic studies based on their evolution rates?

  • A: Both rRNA and mtDNA evolve slowly, making them useful for very ancient relationships.
  • B: rRNA evolves slowly, making it suitable for investigating relationships that diverged hundreds of millions of years ago, while mtDNA evolves rapidly, suitable for recent evolutionary events.
  • C: mtDNA evolves slowly, making it suitable for ancient relationships, while rRNA evolves rapidly, suitable for recent events.
  • D: Both rRNA and mtDNA evolve rapidly, making them useful for recent evolutionary events only.

Explanation

The text states: 'the DNA that codes for ribosomal RNA rRNA changes relatively slowly. Therefore, comparisons of DNA sequences in these genes are useful for investigating relationships between taxa that diverged hundreds of millions of years ago.' It also mentions: 'mitochondrial DNA mtDNA evolves relatively rapidly and can be used to explore recent evolutionary events.'