What is the relationship between gene duplication and duplicate gene action?
Gene duplication always leads to duplicate gene action.
Duplicate gene action always requires gene duplication.
Gene duplication and duplicate gene action are unrelated processes.
Gene duplication and duplicate gene action are sometimes but not always related.
Gene duplication refers to the process by which a gene is replicated to create multiple copies within an organism's genome. Duplicate gene action, on the other hand, refers to the situation in which multiple copies of a gene work together to produce a particular trait.
While gene duplication can lead to duplicate gene action, not all gene duplications result in this phenomenon. In some cases, one copy of the duplicated gene may be silenced or lost, while in other cases both copies may maintain the same function.
Thus, gene duplication and duplicate gene action are sometimes but not always related processes. The relationship between these processes depends on the specific genes involved and the evolutionary pressures acting on the organism.
Option d is the correct answer.