Answer:
A researcher is studying plant development. She isolates a mutant and discovers that the piece of DNA that is mutated does not code for a protein. However, this piece of DNA is complimentary to a gene known to function in early embryonic plant development. The mutant she identified most likely functions as a(n) microRNA (miRNA).
Step-by-step explanation:
MicroRNA (miRNA) can be described as a small RNA molecule. The size of a microRNA is about 22 nucleotides. The miRNA is non- coding.
As miRNA is non- coding hence we can identify the mutant to be a microRNA.
The miRNA molecules are usually known to pair with an mRNA and silence them.
miRNA's are known to be found abundantly in mammals and are known to constitute 60% of the human genes.