midterm 2 Flashcards
(120 cards)
what two factors contribute to one’s phenotype?
- their genotype (set of alleles possessed by the individual)
- the environment in which the individual lives
what is population genetics?
the study of patterns of genetic variation in natural populations
gene pool
all the alleles present in all individuals in a population or species
species
group of individual that are capable, through reproduction, of sharing alleles with one another
– exchange genetic info through interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
populations
interbreeding groups of organisms of the same species living in the same geographical area
two sources of genetic variation
- mutation
- recombination
– result in new alleles
somatic mutations
occur in the body’s tissues in nonreproductive cells
–affects only the cells descended from one cell in which the mutation originally arose –> only affects that one individual
germ-line mutations
occur in reproductive cells
– passed on to the next generation & appear in every cell of an offspring
neutral mutations
have little to no effect
deleterious mutations
harmful effect on an organism
advantageous mutations
improve their carriers’ chances of survival or reproduction
- can increase in frequency in a population until eventually they are carried by every member of the species
–result in species that are better adapted to their environment
allele freqeuncy
of an allele x, is the number of x’s present in the population divided by the total number of alleles
fixation
-when a population exhibits only one allele at a particular gene
-one alleles replaces all other alleles in a population
genotype frequency
proportion in a population of each genotype at a particular gene or set of genes
polymorphisms
any genetic difference among individuals that are present in multiple individuals in a population
what does it mean to say an allele is “fixed” in a population?
if there is only one allele for that gene in the population (frequency is 1)
evolution
change in the frequency of an allele or a genotype from one generation to the next
-only occurs if specific forces act on the population
hardy-weinberg equilibrium
describes the situation in which evolution does NOToccur
- to determine whether evolutionary forces are at work, we need to determine whether a population is in HWE
HWE conditions to be in equilibrium
- no gene flow
- very large population size
- no natural selection
- no mutation
- individuals mate at random
genetic drift
a change in the frequency of an allele due to the random effects of a small population size
nonrandom mating
occurs when individuals do not mate at random
-affects genotype frequencies but not allele frequencies
frequency of AA in HWE
p^2
frequency Aa in HWE
2pq
frequency of aa in HWE
q^2