Difference Between Muton and Recon

The key difference between muton and recon is that muton is the smallest unit of DNA capable of undergoing mutation can occur while recon is the smallest section of DNA that can recombine.

Gene is the fundamental unit of heredity. It contains specific genetic information to produce a specific protein. In fact, it is a nucleotide sequence in which the genetic code is hidden. Gene comprises several smaller units. There is a functional unit, recombination unit and a mutation unit. Thus, recon is the recombination unit of a gene, while muton is the unit of mutation. Muton lies within the recon, and a recon consists of several mutons.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Muton 
3. What is Recon
4. Similarities Between Muton and Recon
5. Side by Side Comparison – Muton vs Recon in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is a Muton?

Muton is an intragenic region. It is the unit of mutation in a gene. In fact, it is a small unit. It can be either a single base or few bases since a mutation can also occur due to one base replacement or several bases. Hence, a single nucleotide is the smallest muton. When considering the sizes of cistron, recon and muton, muton is the smallest.

One recon can have several mutons. Similarly, one cistron can have several recons. Mutons are responsible for giving rise to new mutant forms of organisms since muton is the place of the gene where the mutation takes place.

What is a Recon?

Recon refers to the unit of mutation in a gene.  It is the smallest unit that is capable of undergoing recombination. Recon is larger than a muton, and it can have several mutons as well as one muton.

Recon can be recognized via changes resulting in the amino acid sequence.  Moreover, it can also be identified through the nucleotide sequence of the cistron.

What are the Similarities Between Muton and Recon?

• Both are the smallest units in genes.
• American geneticist S Benzer introduced these terms.

What is the Difference Between Muton and Recon?

Muton is the smallest unit of a gene which can undergo a mutation. On the other hand, recon is the segment of DNA or unit of DNA that can undergo recombination. So, this is the key difference between muton and recon.

Moreover, a further difference between muton and recon is that one recon can have several mutons while a muton is a smaller unit than recon. This is also a difference between muton and recon. Besides, the smallest unit of a muton is a nucleotide. In contrast, the smallest unit of the recon is a small segment of DNA that can undergo recombination.

Summary – Muton vs Recon

Muton is the smallest unit of a chromosome that undergo mutational changes. In contrast, recon is the smallest unit capable of undergoing recombination. Thus, this is the key difference between muton and recon. Both are units of a gene. Since a mutation can occur in a single base or a nucleotide, muton is the smallest compared to recon. So, recon can have several mutons.

Reference:

1. “Cistron, Recon and Muton.” Cistron, Recon and Muton | Fine Structure of Gene – at the Genetic Level (A New Concept of Allelomorphism), Available here.
2. “Gene: Concept and Units (With Diagram): Microbiology.” Biology Discussion, 28 Nov. 2016, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Effect of a mutation” Genomics Education Programme (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Morgan crossover 1” (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia