Genetics

Question 1

What is the definition of an evolutionary force?

Answer 1

Any factor that brings about changes in allele frequencies over time in a population and is thus capable of causing evolutionary change

Question 2

What are the 4 evolutionary forces?

Answer 2

natural selection
mutation
random genetic drift
gene flow

Question 3

What is a population?

Answer 3

A groups of organisms of the same species living in the same georgraphical area at the same time who have the capacity of interbreeding

Question 4

What is Hardy-Weinberg principle?

Answer 4

The principle states that in the absence of evolutionary forces allele frequencies in a population will remain constant from one generation to the next

Question 5

What is the Hardy-Weinberg equation?

Answer 5

p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1

Question 6

What are the differences between migration and gene flow?

Answer 6

migration is more or less a permanent move of individuals which doesn’t always involve interbreeding between immigrant and host

gene flow always involves interbreeding but not involve a permanent migration

Question 7

What is random genetic drift?

Answer 7

A mechanism for evolutionary change resulting from random fluctuations in allele frequencies from one generation to the next

Question 8

What is founder effect?

Answer 8

Genetic differences between a newly founded population and its parent population due to the small size of the founding group

Question 9

What is population bottleneck?

Answer 9

A bottle neck occurs when many members of a population die and only a few are left to reproduce. The new population has a restricted gene pool with different allele frequencies

Question 10

What is a key factor that determines the rate of evolution due to RGD?

Answer 10

Population size - inverse relationship

Question 11

What is a genetic polymorphism?

Answer 11

The occurrence of two or more commonly occurring alleles at a locus in a population, frequency of the most common allele less than 0.99

Question 12

What is an example of a polymorphism?

Answer 12

Sickle cell in Africa

Question 13

When is a locus monomorphic?

Answer 13

When the most common allele has a frequency of greater than 0.99

Question 14

What is an example of a monomorphism?

Answer 14

ABO in South American natives - all group O

Question 15

What is a gene pool?

Answer 15

The sum of all the genetic material in a population

Question 16

How can a population that was monomorphic become polymorphic?

Answer 16

Mutation
Gene Flow
Natural Selection
Genetic Drift
Sexual selection
polyploidy

Question 17

Is gene flow increasing or decreasing?

Answer 17

gene flow can enhance RGD by introducing new genetic material and maintaining diversity,

RGD can affect patterns of gene flow through local adaptation and ecological barriers.

Question 18

How does gene flow interact with RGD?

Answer 18

gene flow can enhance RGD by introducing new genetic material and maintaining diversity, while RGD can affect patterns of gene flow through local adaptation and ecological barriers.

Question 19

What are the assumptions of Hardy-Weinberg?

Answer 19

the allele and genotype frequencies in a population will remain constant from generation to generation

Question 20

From an evolutionary perspective, what does a change in allele frequencies mean?

Answer 20

a change in allele frequencies signifies that evolutionary processes are occurring within a population

Question 21

What are the consequences of inbreeding?

Answer 21

inbreeding can have profound negative effects on individuals and populations, leading to reduced fitness, increased health issues, and greater extinction risk.

Question 22

What is the coefficient of inbreeding?

Answer 22

the coefficient of inbreeding quantifies the degree of inbreeding in an individual or population, providing important insights into genetic health, fitness, and evolutionary potential.

Question 23

What are similarities between simple and complex traits?

Answer 23

Genetic Basis
Phenotypic Variation
Environmental Influence
Heritability
Selection Pressure

Question 24

Differences between simple and complex traits

Answer 24

Simple Traits: controlled by a single gene or a few genes
- inheritance patterns, such as dominant-recessive relationships.
- typically discrete, meaning individuals either express the trait or they do not

Complex traits: influenced by multiple genes, often located at different loci.
- the effects of multiple genes contribute to the phenotype
- significantly affected by environmental factors.

Question 25

What does heritability capture?

Answer 25

the genetic contribution to phenotypic variation in a trait

Question 26

What are concordance rates used for?

Answer 26

for assessing the genetic and environmental contributions to traits and diseases.

Question 27

How is heritability measured?

Answer 27

parent-offspring regression, sibling comparisons, twin studies, and variance partitioning.

The distinction between narrow and broad sense heritability

Question 28

What are some limitations of heritability?

Answer 28

population specificity
environmental influences
potential for misinterpretation
the complexity of genetic interactions.