intro & genetic variation

Question 1

molecular ecology definition

Answer 1

application of molecular techniques to answer ecological questions

Question 2

what’s the genetic code

Answer 2

Genetic code = universal – principles can be applied to ANY organism

Question 3

what’s a codon + how many are there

Answer 3

codon = sequence of 3 nucleotides > amino acid
64 codons
61 codons = 20 amino acids
3 codons = stop codons

Question 4

what’s genetic variation / diversity

Answer 4

Change in the underlying genome by natural selection – results in evolutionary change
- Variation can be phenotypic (visual) / genetic (genetic code)

Question 5

4 evolutionary forces that influence genetic variation

Answer 5

Mutation
Migration
Genetic drift
Natural selection / sexual selection

Question 6

what are the different levels variation is distributed

Answer 6

Species variation (interspecific)
Population variation (intraspecific)
Individual variation

Question 7

importance of genetic variation

Answer 7

• key component of Biodiversity
• Evolution cannot happen without variation (if everything is the same, nothing can change)
• Allows individuals to generate phenotypic variation to survive a changing environment (but not all phenotypic variation is adaptive)
• reduces risk of extinction

Question 8

adaptation definition

Answer 8

Adaptation = Any feature that promotes fitness and was built by natural selection for its current role (but could also be anthropogenic driven change)
- Organisms are adapted to their past, not their present, environment - natural selection is always late

Question 9

fitness definition

Answer 9

rate of increase of one genotype over other genotypes

Question 10

what does natural selection and adaptation explain

Answer 10

Natural selection explains HOW organisms change, adaptation explains WHY they change

Question 11

Genetic adaptive variation definition

Answer 11

genetic variation that is correlated with fitness

Question 12

how can Adaptive variation be examined

Answer 12

from a phenotypic or genotypic perspective - linking these two (genotype-phenotype problem) is possibly one of the greatest challenges in evolutionary biology
- Genetic and phenotypic diversity do not always correlate - can be evidence of selection e.g. Gene-Environment Interactions + epigenetic modifications