Ch 25 Population Genetics Flashcards
branch of genetics that studies genetic makeup of groups of individuals and how genetic composition of a group changes over time
population genetics
group of interbreeding, sexually reproducing individuals that have a common set of genes
Mendelian population
what leads to a loss of genetic variation?
genetic drift
what is the basis for all evolution?
genetic variation
what are the assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg law?
- large population
- randomly mating
- not affected by mutation, migration, or natural selection
if a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, what does it mean about the population?
the population is not evolving
when is the heterozygote frequency at its maximum?
when each allele frequency (p & q) are 0.5
if a population is in Hardy Weinberg equilibrium, have forces (natural selection, mutation, and migration) have acted since random mating last took place?
no, these forces have no acted since random mating last took place
describe the two types of nonrandom mating
positive assortment mating - tendency for like individuals to mate
negative assortment mating - tendency for unlike individuals to mate
preferential mating between related individuals
inbreeding
preferential mating between unrelated individuals
outcrossing
when inbreeding occurs, does the heterozygote population increase or decrease?
heterozygotes decrease
describe inbreeding depression and what causes it
decreased fitness of a population due to inbreeding, often because of increased appearance of lethal or deleterious traits
describe how mutations change allelic frequencies
mutations can increase the allele frequency at one locus, thus decreasing the frequency of the other, until they eventually reach mutational equilibrium
what is gene flow/migration?
movement of genes from one population to another