Which small-scale mutation would be most likely to have the least negative effect on the function of a protein?
A substitution of one base for another within the sequence
A base deletion near the start of a gene
A base deletion near the end of the coding sequence, but not in the terminator codon
A deletion of three bases near the start of the coding sequence, but not in the initiator codon

The small-scale mutation that would most likely have the least negative effect on the function of a protein is ; ( A ) A substitution of one base for another within the sequence.

A substitution of one base for another within the sequence of a protein will cause an insignificant/silent mutation within the protein sequence and this mutation will not be evident in the protein.

When a base is deleted either near the start of a gene or near the end of the coding sequence, it will have a significant effect because this will change the sequence of the DNA ( due to the deletion of at least one nucleotide ).

Hence we can conclude that the small-scale mutation that would most likely have the least negative effect on the function of a protein is ; A substitution of one base for another within the sequence.

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