Five different races within a species have the chromosomal g

Five different races within a species have the chromosomal gene order listed below. Assuming that each race evolved by a single inversion from another race, and the earliest race was abcdefg, what was the order of evolution for the 5 races?

a.

1 4 3 5 2

b.

1 3 5 2 4

c.

1 5 3 4 2

d.

1 5 2 4 3

e.

1 3 2 4 5

I chose C as the answer. Can someone confirm that this is the right answer and if it is not can you explain which one is the right answer.

Solution

Hi, You have done it correctly till the 1--->5. Bravos.

But if you look attentively, 5 changes to 2 and not 3.

This is a case of sequential inversions.

So in the first case of 1--->5, abcd is inverted to dcba

then, from 5---->2, eab is inverted to bae

from 2--->4, eabfg is inverted to gfbae

and finally 4--->3, gcd is inverted to dcg.

So the perfect answer would be 4.

Hope this helps.