Population Genetics (Key Terms) - MCB 104

Question 1

What is a population?

Answer 1

population is a group of individuals of a single species living in the same time and place.

Question 2

What is a gene pool?

Answer 2

sum total of all alleles carried in all members of a population.

Question 3

What is a sample?

Answer 3

a finite number of individuals used to draw conclusions about the population as a whole.

Question 4

What is an allele?

Answer 4

one of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome (locus). these alternative forms give rise to varying types of proteins that may be functional or not.

Question 5

What is monomorphic?

Answer 5

only one type of allele or form of a gene in a sample

Question 6

What is polymorphic?

Answer 6

more than one type of allele or form of a gene in a sample

Question 7

What is genotype frequency?

Answer 7

how often does a genotype occur in a population OR - proportion of individuals in a population (X) that carry a particular genotype (Y) = Y/X

Question 8

What are phenotype frequencies?

Answer 8

how often does a phenotype occur in a population OR - proportion of individuals in a population that exhibit a particular phenotype.

Question 9

What is the Hardy Weinberg Law or Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium?

Answer 9

assumption that allele and genotype frequencies for a gene/locus in a population will not change unless one of the assumptions of the law are violated by ecological or environmental factors.

Question 10

What are Hardy Weinberg proportions?

Answer 10

frequencies derived from HW equation:

AA = p²

Aa = 2pq

aa = q²