Midterm 2 Flashcards
Define character
An observable, physical, heritable factor that varies among individuals (hair color, height)
Define trait
The alternative forms of a character (brown/black hair)
Define true-breeding
Organisms that “breed true” with respect to a particular trait - breeding within only gives rise to offspring with that trait.
*Self-pollination would produce progeny that all have the same phenotype as the parent. e.g. If a plant variety was true breeding for a dominant train, all progengy would have dominant trait
What is the law of segregation?
Two alleles for a heritable character separate from each other during meiosis and end up in different gametes.
What is a test-cross?
A cross between a dominant phenotype (S?) and a homozygous recessive (ss).
What is the law of independent assortment?
Alleles for different traits assort independently of each other during Meiosis
Why did Mendel use pea plants?
- It’s easy to control mating in peas
- Peas have many easily-scored,
true-breeding, heritable traits
- Relatively short
generation times (one year), so
many experiments could be performed
- Peas make lots of offspring
Define qualitative variation
Either-or of alternative traits (red or pink)
Define quantitative variation
Many genes affect a trait and there are alleles at different loci.
Ex. Human height affect by alleles at 180 loci
Define evolution
Changes in allele frequencies in populations over time
Define population
A group of same species organism living in the same area at the same time. Interbreeding occurring
What process forms new alleles?
Mutation
What is a point mutation?
Substitutions of a single base in a gene. There can either be a protein change at higher levels or no protein change (silent point mutation).
What is an insertion/deletion mutation?
Addition/loss of one or more bases.
- Multiple of 3 bases results in loss of amino acid
- Non-multiple of 3 results in ALL amino acids changing (frame-shift)
What is a frame-shift mutation?
When a non-multiple of 3 amount of bases are inserted/deleted resulting in a change of ALL amino acids in that gene.
What is gene duplication?
What organisms are more susceptible to mutations?
Organisms with rapid generations times (divide frequently)
How does a mutation affect the phenotype of an organism?
Mostly negative
Sometimes neutral but RARELY positive
Are mutations goal directed?
No they arise randomly
How do mutation and sexual reproduction generate variation?
Mutation makes new alleles
Sexual reproduction shuffles alleles
A diploid organism can have at most how many different alleles at a particular locus?
2
Define gene pool
The sum of all copies of all alleles at all loci in a population.
What does it mean if a population is monomorphic or fixed at a particular loci?
There is only one allele at this locus
What are the 5 conditions for the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?
- No mutation
- No gene flow
- Large population size
- No natural selection
- Mating is random
What are the 5 mechanisms of evolution?
- Mutation
- Gene flow
- Genetic drift
- Natural selection
- Nonrandom mating
Define gene flow
The movement of genes among populations which introduces new alleles. Tends to make populations more similar to one another
Define genetic drift
Random changes in allele frequencies due to random sampling errors. Small subset of population that do not reflect true allele frequencies reproduces.
*Strongest effect on small populations
What are the two special cases of genetic drift?
- Bottleneck - Population reduced dramatically (killed) resulting in reduced genetic variation
- Founder Effect - Immigrants break off and start new population
Define natural selection
Differential survival/reproduction of individuals in a population based on heritable variation in their phenotypes
What are two requirements of natural selection?
Heritable variation in phenotype and that variation affects survival/reproduction of individuals
Define relative fitness
The contribution an individual organism makes to the gene pool of the next generation relative to the contribution of others in that population
What are adaptations?
Heritable traits that increase survival/reproduction rates
What is Stabilizing Selection?
When the “Average” phenotype is most likely to survive
What is Directional Selection?
Phenotypes at one end of the distribution are most likely to survive (higher relative fitness)
What is Disruptive Selection?
Phenotypes at both ends of the distribution are most likely to survive (highest relative fitness).
*Mean phenotype has lowest relative fitness