A Sequence Similarity Search Reveals That a Candidate Gene's Sequence

Multiple Choice

A sequence similarity search reveals that a candidate gene's sequence has a partial match to a known gene's sequence. What does this most likely indicate?

A) There is no relationship between the candidate and known gene.
B) The candidate gene encodes an identical transcript to the known gene.
C) The candidate gene encodes the same protein as the known gene.
D) The protein encoded by the candidate gene contains a protein domain also found in the known gene's protein.
E) The protein encoded by the candidate gene has the same function as the protein encoded by the known gene.