7.4,5,12: Population Genetics Flashcards
What is a population?
- A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area
and interbreed to produce fertile offspring
What is a gene pool?
- A population’s genetic makeup
What does a gene pool consist of?
- consists of all copies of every type of allele
Recap: what is an allele?
- version of a trait
What are fixed alleles?
-If there is only one allele present for a particular locus in the population
What occurs to genetic diversity if there are many fixed alleles?
Less genetic diversity
A population’s __ frequencies will change over time.
Allele
Do individuals evolve?
NO, ONLY POPULATIONS
What is microevolution?
- small scale genetic changes in a population
Evolution is driven by _____ ______. 
Random occurrences
Give four examples of random occurrences.
- Mutations
- genetic drift
- migration/gene flow
- natural selection
Definr mutation.
- A change in the genetic makeup of an organism/alteration of DNA
Mutations can result in genetic variations. What are some occurences in this? (2)
- can form new alleles
- natural selection can act on varied phenotypes
When are mutations fast, and when are mutations slow?
- rates tend to be slow in plants and animals
- fast in prokaryotes due to a faster generation time (reporduce every 20 minutes via binary fission)
Are all mutations bad? (3)
- mutations can be harmful, neutral, or beneficial
- most mutations are in the neutral to harmful range.
- not all mutations lead to evolution
