Question

A scientist shines ultraviolet light on a colony of blue colored bacteria. She then places colonies of the bacteria in separate Petri dishes. After allowing the bacteria to replicate for several generations, the scientist observes that some of the dishes now contain colonies with purple and red colored bacteria. What can be concluded from this observation?

Answer 1

It is possible that ultraviolet light had an influence on a colony of blue colored bacteria causing the mutation to occur. This type of mutation is mutation induced by a mutagen in the environment (UV light).

A mutation is a change in the nucleotide sequence (genetic material) and can create new functionalities of an organism.