Question

Differentiate between cistron, muton and recon.

Answer 1

Hint: A section of RNA or DNA molecule which codes for the specific polypeptides during the process of protein synthesis is termed as cistron. The smallest unit of chromosomes that can be mutated or modified via mutations is known as the muton. The gene that is capable of synthesizing the polypeptide chains of enzymes are known as the recon.

Complete answer:

Cistron	Muton	Recon
The cistron is the segment of the DNA. It contains all the necessary and required information for the production of a single polypeptide chain. The cistron consists of both the coding sequences and the regulatory sequences. These sequences are the start and the stop signals of the transcription process. The Cis-trans phenomenon is seen in the alleles present.	The term muton was coined by Benzer. It is defined as the smallest site that is mutable within a cistron. The muton is basically the smallest part of any gene that is able to participate in the process of mutation. They are usually single-nucleotide pairs though they can contain 3 to 4 nucleotides also. Mutons can assume different conditions. Sometimes they can be radioactive elements or sometimes they can be normal nucleotides.	The unit of recombination is known as recon. The term recon was coined by Seymour Benzer. He used it to describe the smallest recombinant unit. The recon is the segment or the part of the present cistronic sequence. It is now known as the single nucleotide pair because there is no crossing over in these regions of the gene.

Note: The terms ‘gene’ and ‘cistron’ are not synonymous with each other. This is because the operon is a stretch of the DNA that is transcribed to form a continuous segment of the RNA that contains more than one cistron and genes.