Question

from making comparisons of an organisms amino acid sequence we can make inferences about evolutionary relationships of organisms and create cladograms. make observations about the similarities of the following organisms amino acid sequence to determine which species are most related.
below is a segment of an amino acid sequence for the protein hemoglobin, which is found in our blood cells. hemoglobin is a protein that transports oxygen in our bloodstream. compare the sequences for humans, gorillas, horses, kangaroos and chickens and record the number of similarities in the data table provided.
human hemoglobin amino acid sequence: thr - leu - ser - glu - leu - his - cys - asp - lys
gorilla hemoglobin amino acid sequence: thr - leu - ser - glu - leu - his - cys - arg - lys
kangaroo hemoglobin amino acid sequence: lys - leu - ser - ile - arg - his - cys - asp - lys
horse hemoglobin amino acid sequence: ala - leu - ser - glu - leu - his - ala - trp - pro
chicken hemoglobin amino acid sequence: gly - leu - phe - glu - val - his - asn - ile - pro
organism comparison # of similarities in amino acid sequence
human compared to gorilla
human compared to kangaroo
human compared to horse
human compared to chicken

Explanation:

Step1: Compare human and gorilla sequences

Count the number of matching amino - acids. Human: THR - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - CYS - ASP - LYS, Gorilla: THR - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - CYS - ARG - LYS. There are 8 matches.

Step2: Compare human and kangaroo sequences

Human: THR - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - CYS - ASP - LYS, Kangaroo: LYS - LEU - SER - ILE - ARG - HIS - CYS - ASP - LYS. There are 5 matches.

Step3: Compare human and horse sequences

Human: THR - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - CYS - ASP - LYS, Horse: ALA - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - ALA - TRP - PRO. There are 4 matches.

Step4: Compare human and chicken sequences

Human: THR - LEU - SER - GLU - LEU - HIS - CYS - ASP - LYS, Chicken: GLY - LEU - PHE - GLU - VAL - HIS - ASN - ILE - PRO. There are 3 matches.

Answer:

Human compared to Gorilla: 8
Human compared to Kangaroo: 5
Human compared to Horse: 4
Human compared to Chicken: 3