A mutation occurs in a gene such that a single nucleotide pair is deleted from the coding region of the DNA. Which of the following best predicts the effect of this mutation on the resulting polypeptide?

Core Concept

Because the genetic code is read in non-overlapping, three-nucleotide codons, deleting a single nucleotide causes a frameshift mutation. This alters the reading frame for all downstream codons, typically resulting in extensive missense sequences or premature stop codons.