Lecture 1

Question 1

Genetic structure/population structure

Answer 1

genetic makeup within a population underpinned by allele frequencies between populations

Question 2

Landscape genetics

Answer 2

population genetic + landscape ecology

Question 3

Phylogeny

Answer 3

evolutionary history and relationships

Question 4

Allele

Answer 4

Variant of molecule sequence at a particular location of DNA. (simply: gene variant)

Question 5

Locus (pl. loci)

Answer 5

position of a gene or genetic marker on a chromosome

Question 6

Gene

Answer 6

1) unit of heredity
2) sequence of nucleotides (molecules) in DNA (also a molecule)

Question 7

1) Haploid
2) Diploid

Answer 7

1) Single set of chromosomes.
2) 2 sets of chromosomes (1 from each parent).
Can describe cells or organisms.

Question 8

Haplotype

Answer 8

(haploid genotype)
group of alleles inherited together from a single parent. Genes that are close tend to be inherited as a “set”.
This allows to identify common ancestry.

Question 9

Chromosome

Answer 9

DNA package inside the cell nucleus
ptotein + 1 DND molecule

Question 10

Population/genetic bottleneck

Answer 10

sharp reduction in population due to environmental effects. It can lead to loss of alleles.
A demographic recovery after a bottleneck is not the same as genomic recovery.

Question 11

Genetic drift (Wright effect)

Answer 11

change in frequency of an existing allele. More noticeable in small populations (because 50/50 probability applies to big populations, the smaller it is the bigger the error margin).

Question 12

DNA barcoding

Answer 12

way to identify a species using a section of DNA and comparing it to an existing database.

Question 13

Tandem repeat

Answer 13

a repeating pattern of one or more nucleotides, where repetitions are adjacent to each other. Consists of satellite DNA, minisatellite and microsatellite DNA.

Question 14

Satellite DNA

Question 15

• Microsatellite DNA
• Minisatellite DNA

Answer 15

tract of repetitive DNA, were DNA motifs are repeated. They occur in different places within genome. They have higher mutation rate that other areas of DNA -> genetic diversity.
Minisatellite is longer.
They are part of VNTR.

Question 16

VNTR

Answer 16

Variable Number Tandem Repeat.
Location in genome where tandem repeats are. They vary in length between individuals and are inherited, allowing to identify an individual and a parent.
Used as a genetic marker.
2 unrelated individuals are unlikely to have the same allelic pattern.

Question 17

Heterozygosity

Answer 17

possession of 2 different alleles.

Question 18

Runs of Homozygosity (ROH)

Answer 18

continuous lengths of homozygous genotypes.
Used to identify inbreeding.

Question 19

Linkage disequilibrium

Answer 19

alleles in different loci are associated more/less frequently than expected at random

Question 20

Effective population size (N_e)

Answer 20

size of an idealized population with same level of genetic drift and inbreefing as in a real population.

Question 21

Genetic load

Answer 21

Total count of deleterious mutations

Question 22

Mutation meltdown

Answer 22

(sub class of extinction vortex)
accumulation of harmful mutations in a small population that causes loss of fitness and decline.

Question 23

Extinction vortex

Answer 23

models of extinction dynamics.
4 classes:
- R vortex (disturbance that lowers population size and makes it vulnerable),
- D vortex (fragmentation of population),
- F vortex (decrease in heterozygosity due to decrease in population size),
- A vortex (impact of genetic drift)

Question 24

Realised genetic load (‘Unmasked’ mutations)

Answer 24

happens when heterozygous mutations become homozygous. Happens during the bottleneck, causing inbreeding depression.
The smaller the original population, the smaller the genetic load as it scales with population size.