Final Flashcards
Where does biological diversity come from?
evolution
what is evolution?
a change in allele frequencies in a population over time
how do we study evolution?
1) genetics (how does inheritance work, Mendel)
2) population and quantitive genetics (how do allele frequencies change over time and space?)
3) paleobiology (how do large-scale evolutionary changes affect organisms?)
4) integration of genetics and morphology (developmental patterns and evolutionary transitions)
what are the required conditions for natural selection to occur?
evolution in response to natural selection is inevitable if:
1. there is variation in a trait
2. that variation is heritable
3. some variants survive and reproduce more than others
where did the idea of evolution by natural selection come from - what ideas did it rely on?
Charles Darwin
relied on the ideas of Lyell (long evolutionary time period)
Malthus (survival of the fittest)
Lamarck (transmutation)
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
came up with the theory of natural selection independently of Darwin, but later, spurring Darwin to publish his own work
Who was Jean-Baptiste Lamarck?
proposed transmutation mechanism of inheritance (that species change over time
Lamarckism
species themselves must be capable of changing
who was Thomas Malthus?
human population can increase faster than food supply, which leads to competition and survival of the fittest
there must be a pressure to force adaptation (ie. food)
who was Charles Lyell?
landforms were not fixed but changed slowly as a result of geological processes that can be observed today
the earth is much older than believed and undergoing constancy change
timeframe for evolution is on the geologic time scale
what is the link between existing variation within a population and the process of natural selection?
the existing variation in a population’s traits occurs. as a result of natural selection forcing the reproductive success of fit traits, which are then inherited in a population (causing said variation)
why is heritable variation leading to differential fitness essential for evolution?
evolution cannot occur without heritability in natural selection.
who is Georges Cuvier?
found that many species have gone extinct
some species survive, others go extinct
what is Lamarckism?
acquired traits can be inherited and are lost through disuse
what did On the Origin of Species state?
the struggle for existence firn limited resources = favourable variations tend to be preserved and unfavourable ones destroyed
what were Darwin’s four postulates?
- Individuals within a species vary
- Some variation is inherited
- more offspring are produced than can survive and reproduce
- survival and reproduction are not random but related to phenotypic variation.
what did Charles Darwin contribute?
natural selection is the mechanism by which biological evolution occurs
what is adaptive radiation?
a process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into many new forms
ex. Darwin’s finches
Natural selection can occur without ___, but evolution by natural selection cannot
Heritability
What are Mendel’s genetic crosses?
he performed the test cross and the monohybrid cross
what is a test cross?
cross homozygous recessive individual to determine if the other parent is homo or hetero dominant
Mendel used to check his monohybrid crosses
aa x A?
what is a monohybrid cross?
two heterozygous parents come together for a single pair of genes
f2 produces a 3:1 phenotypic ratio and a 1:2:1 genotypic ratio
how does meiosis determine the frequency and genotype of gametes of homozygous and heterozygous individuals?
the pair of alleles that control a character separate as gametes in meiosis
half of the gametes (haploid) carry one allele, and the other half carry the other allele
diploid organisms get one allele from each parent
what is the difference between dominant and recessive alleles?
often, the dominant allele codes for a functional protein, whereas the recessive allele codes for a loss of function.
What is incomplete dominance? how does this affect phenotypic ratios?
when the effects of the recessive allele can be seen in a heterozygote
intermediate phenotype
ex. a red and a white flower making a pink heterozygote
rather than being 3:1, F2 is now 1:2:1
what is co-dominance? how does this affect phenotypic ratios?
when both alleles have significant effects, making both alleles detectable in heterozygotes
both traits expressed
1:2:1
ex. blood types
what is blending inheritance?
theory of inheritance from the mid-1800s
offspring have traits that are intermediate to their parents
variation will be reduced over time
what did Gregor Mendel do?
tested the hypothesis of blending vs. particulate inheritance
used true-breeding variety of peas
many varieties of different characters
published Uber Pflazenhybriden
what were the objectives of Mendel’s pea plant experiment? how did he conduct his experiments differently from others?
to determine whether statical patterns in occurrence of the contrasting trits persisted by means of crossing or blending
he…
1. used true breeding strains
2. focused on a single trait at a time
3. quantitative: counted the progeny
the results of Mendel’s crosses support his three hypothesis
- the genes that govern genetic characters are present in two copies in individuals
- if different alleles are present in a pair of genes, one is dominant over the other
- the two alleles of a gene segregate and enter games separately
the product rule in probability
when two or more events are independent, the probability that they will both occur is calculated using the product rule:
their individual probabilities are multiplied
the probability that A and B with BOTH occur = the probability of the event
what is Mendel’s principle of segregation?
the pairs of alleles that control a character segregate in meiosis, as gametes are formed, with half of the gametes carrying one allele, and the other carrying the other allele.
the sum rule in probability
applies when several different events all give the same outcome
the probability that EITHER event A or B or C will occur = probability of event
A+B+C = probability of event
what is a dihybrid cross?
a cross between two individuals that are heterozygous for two pairs of alleles
Rr Yy x Rr Yy
this supported his theory of independent assortment
what is Mendel’s principle of independent assortment
alleles of genes that govern two characters segregate independently dying the formation of gametes
what is a population?
an interbreeding group of individuals that belong to the same species and live within a restricted geographical area
what is population genetics?
the consequences of Mendelian genetics in a population
what assumptions have to be met for a Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?
population allele frequencies do not change if:
1) the population is closed to migration from other populations (no gene flow)
2) the population size is infinite (no genetic drift)
3) no mutation is occurring in the population (no allele change between generations)
4) all genotypes in the population survive and reproduce equally well (natural selection does not affect alleles, same fitness)
5) individuals in the population mate randomly with respect to genotype (same fitness, random mating)
the location of a gene on a chromosome is…
a locus
what is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?
what would the genetic makeup of a population be at a particular locus if the population was not evolving?
what are the expected genotype frequencies under a Hardy-Weinberg population?
genotype: frequency:
AA p^2
Aa 2pq
aa q^2
because the gametes are haploid and mix randomly if there is no selection at the genotypic level, ________
all gametes go back to the gene pool
what did Sutton observe?
while studying meiosis and fertilization in 1903, he noticed:
- chromosomes occur in pairs in diploid organisms
- chromosomes of each pair separated in gametes
- separation of each pair of chromosomes is independent of other pairs
segregation of ___ reflects the spertaion of ____ in meisosi
alleles
chromosomes
polymorphism
the existence of discrete variants of a character among individuals in a population
properties of complex traits
complex traits…
1. vary continuously (ie. height) (genetic nf environmental causes influences create continuous distribution)(ie. height in 1914 and now)
- are polygenic (multiple genes for one trait)
what is a complex trait?
Complex traits, also known as quantitative traits, are traits that do not behave according to simple Mendelian inheritance laws.
ie. body size and length
is it possible for two individuals to have the same phenotype but different genotypes? the same genotype but different phenotypes?
Yes and yes
AA and Aa genotypes have the same phenotype
the same genotype can be expressed differently (epigenetics)
why is Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium a powerful test in evolution?
- tells us when evolution is not occurring
- departure from equilibrium suggests one or more assumptions have been violated
- we can use it to predict genotype frequencies when we have less information about a population
*even if a population is not at HWE, this does not prove that it is evolving, we need to see a sustained change in allele frequencies
how do you test whether a population is in HWE?
- calculate the allele frequencies, p and q
- use the allele frequencies to calculate the genotype frequencies p^2, 2pq and q^2
- calculate expected numbers under HWW
- perform a Chi-Squared test
how do you calculate allele frequencies?
p = 2(AA) + Aa / 2(total observed)
q = 2(aa) +Aa / 2(total observed)
p + q = 1
how do we determine the expected numbers in a population?
multiply the genotype frequency by the total population to get your expected genotype number
ex.
P^2 = 0.91 = total(0.91) = 1466.92 invidiuals expected to be AA
what is genetic drift?
changes in allele frequency due to random changes in populations
reduces genetic variation – variation is lost more rapidly in smaller populations (bottlenecks and founder effects)
causes population divergence
what is inbreeding?
mating with relatives
affects genotype frequencies, but does not alter allele frequencies in itself
results in the fixation of homozygous individuals and elimination of heterozygosity
inbreeding depression results in reduced fitness
why are genetic drift and inbreeding important in small populations?
drift generally leads to reduced genetic diversity in small populations because rare alleles are often lost
the small size of the total gene pool will remain small regardless of how large the population becomes
inbreeding causes a disruptive selection, which fixates the homozygous genotypes and eliminates the heterozygous
what is disruptive selection?
both extreme phenotypes are favoured; intermediate phenotypes are selected against
what is balancing selction?
a type of natural selection in which more than one allele is actively maintained in a population. natural selection preserved balancing selection when:
1)heterozygotes have a relatively higher fitness
2) when different alleles are favoured in different environments
3) when the rarity of a phenotype provides a selective advantage
what is directional selection?
individuals of one extreme phenotype are favoured
what is sexual selection?
favours those individuals with specific traits that enhance their ability to mate with individuals of the other sex
often diminishes survival (ie. moose antlers)
encompasses intrasexual and intersexual selection
sexual asymmetry in energy investment in offspring means that females are more discriminatory with who they mate.