Single-nucleotide Polymorphism - Types

Types

Types of SNPs
  • Non-coding region
  • Coding region
    • Synonymous
    • Nonsynonymous
      • Missense
      • Nonsense

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms may fall within coding sequences of genes, non-coding regions of genes, or in the intergenic regions (regions between genes). SNPs within a coding sequence do not necessarily change the amino acid sequence of the protein that is produced, due to degeneracy of the genetic code.

A SNP in which both alleles produce the same polypeptide sequence is called a synonymous polymorphism (sometimes called a silent mutation). If a different polypeptide sequence is produced the polymorphism is a non-synonymous or replacement polymorphism. A replacement polymorphism change may be either missense, which results in a different amino acid, or nonsense, which results in a premature stop codon. Over half of all known disease mutations come from replacement polymorphisms.

SNPs that are not in protein-coding regions may still affect gene splicing, transcription factor binding, messenger RNA degradation, or the sequence of non-coding RNA. Gene expression affected by this type of SNP is referred to as an eSNP (expression SNP) and may be upstream or downstream from the gene.

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