Question:

Human beings have a large-sized 'proteome'. The principal and more significant reason for this is-

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More than \(95%\) of human multi-exon genes undergo alternative splicing.
This allows high cellular and tissue-specific complexity without needing a massive number of individual genes.
  • Humans have an extremely large genome.
  • An individual gene of the human genome may encode many different polypeptides.
  • Humans are the most complex living organism.
  • The human genome contains millions of different genes.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The "genome" is the complete set of DNA in an organism, whereas the "proteome" is the entire set of expressed proteins.
The human genome contains about \(20,000\) to \(25,000\) protein-coding genes, but expresses hundreds of thousands of proteins.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:

This difference in size between the genome and the proteome is explained by post-transcriptional mechanisms.
The most significant of these mechanisms is alternative pre-mRNA splicing.
Human genes contain coding regions (exons) interspersed with non-coding regions (introns).
During transcription, the spliceosome removes introns and joins exons in different combinations.
This allows a single pre-mRNA transcript to generate several distinct mature mRNA variants.
Each unique mature mRNA is then translated into a different polypeptide isoform.
Other contributing factors include:
1. Alternative promoters: Initiating transcription at different start sites within a single gene.
2. Alternative polyadenylation: Splicing and terminating transcripts at different end sites.
3. Post-translational modifications (PTMs): Adding chemical groups (like phosphates or sugars) to proteins after translation.
Let us evaluate the other options:
Options (A) and (D) are incorrect because the human genome contains only about \(20,000\text{--}25,000\) genes, not millions.
Additionally, many plants and amphibians have genomes that are much larger than the human genome.
Option (C) is a subjective statement that does not provide a biological explanation for proteomic complexity.

Step 4: Final Answer:

The primary reason for the large proteome size is that single genes can encode multiple polypeptides, matching Option (B).
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