Chapter 7: Genetic Changes in Populations Flashcards
Define population and gene pool
- A population refers to members of one species living in one region at a particular time
- A gene pool is all of the alleles present in a population
State how to determine whether evolution has occurred
- Changes in allele frequencies over generations indicate evolution
- E.g. Initially, the dominant and recessive allele both have a frequency of 0.5 but overtime, the dominant allele becomes more prevalent
Define and provide examples of environmental selection pressures
- Environmental selection pressures are external agents that influence the ability of an organism to survive in their environment
- Physical → climate change, food shortages, shelter availability
- Biological → infectious disease, predation, competition and sexual selection
- Chemical → soil/water pollutants and drugs (antibiotics)
State how selection pressures can cause change in the allele frequency of a gene pool
- Due to selection pressures, the number of favourable alleles within a gene pool increase while the number of unfavourable alleles decrease
- Survival of the fittest
Define natural selection and its impact on genetic diversity
- Natural selection is the process in which organisms better adapted for an environment are more likely to survive and pass their genes on to the next generation
- Over many generations, better adapted alleles become more common in a population
- This decreases genetic diversity
Explain gene flow
- Gene flow involves the movement of organisms and their genetic material between populations (transferring alleles from one gene pool to another)
- A lack of gene flow prevents the introduction of new alleles into a population which decreases genetic diversity (only current members of the population contribute to the genome of future populations)
State the difference between immigration and emigration
- Immigration involves the movement of alleles into a population
- Emigration involves the movement of alleles out of a population
Define genetic drift
- Genetic drift involves random and unpredictable changes in allele frequencies from one generation to the next
- Due to chance events such as floods and bushfires
Explain and provide an example of the bottleneck effect (genetic drift)
- The bottleneck effect is a drastic reduction in population size due to a chance event
- E.g. Due to bushfire, a population of koalas has drastically dropped
Explain and provide an example of the founder effect (genetic drift)
- The founder effect occurs when a new colony is started by a few members of a larger population
- E.g. Due to a flash flood, fish are seperated from the main population and subsequently establish a new population in a nearby lake
Describe the difference between natural selection and genetic drift
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Natural selection favours organisms that are better adapted to the environment
- Those with advantageous genes are more likely to survive
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Genetic drift does not favour any organism (or allele) over the other
- Each organism is equally subject to being affected (completely random)
Define mutation
- A mutation is a permanent change in the DNA sequence of a gene that leads to the formation of new alleles
State the difference between point and block mutations
- Point mutations involve a change in one single nucleotide base
- Block mutations involve change in a section of a chromosome
Name and describe the three types of point mutations
- Silent mutations do not change the amino acid
- Nonsense mutations lead to the production of a STOP codon
- Missense mutations change the amino acid
Name and describe the types of block mutations
- Duplication → a section of a chromosome is duplicated and is reconnected to the same chromosome
- Deletion → a section of a chromosome is removed
- Insertion → a section of a chromosome is added
- Inversion → a section of a chromosome is flipped but is still connected to the same site
- Translocation → a section of a chromosome is removed and is relocated to a new position on the chromosome
Explain frameshift mutations
- Frameshift mutations are a type of point mutation in which the insertion or deletion of a single base causes change in all amino acids
- Insertion mutations occur when a base is added
- Deletion mutations occur when a base is removed
- Results in alteration of the ‘reading frame’ as the number of nucleotides is no longer divisible by three
State the difference between polyploidy and aneuploidy
- Polypoloidy involves a change in the number of sets of chromosomes
- Aneuploidy involves a change in chromosome numbers
TIP: P.S. and N/A.
State how mutations can bring about new alleles
- Mutations create new DNA sequences and thus new alleles
Explain the mechanism of natural selection
- Variation exists in the population’s gene pool (created by new alleles via mututations)
- Environmental selection pressures act upon the population and there is a struggle for all organisms to survive
- Better adapted organisms are more likely to survive/reproduce and, thus, pass their alleles on to the next generation
- Alleles that allow for survival will be inherited by subsequent generations and increase in frequency in the gene pool over time
State examples of when increasing genetic diversity can be beneficial or detrimental to a population
- Should environmental conditions change, high genetic diversity within a gene pool increases the species’ chance of survival
- High genetic diversity can promote the rise of redundant alleles; if the environment changes and advantageous alleles are less prevalent, population size can decrease and make the species more susceptible to extinction
State examples of when decreasing genetic diversity can be beneficial or detrimental to a population
- Decreased genetic diversity (where advantageous alleles are dominant) is beneficial if conditions are stable and unchanging
- If a novel disease is introduced to a population with low genetic diversity, the opportunity for survival is low and therefore makes the species more susceptible to extinction
Define selective breeding
- Involves breeding parents with particular characteristics to produce offspring with desired traits
Give an example of when and why humans have used selective breeding
- Humans use selective breeding to breed for animals with more desirable characterisics
- E.g. Through selecting breeding, beagles have been bred to have a strong sense of smell which allows them to be great hunters
State the effect of selective breeding on genetic diversity
- Selectively bred plants and animals tend to share very similar alleles and thus results in a decrease in genetic diversity
- As a result, populations are at risk should conditions change