Chapter 23The Evolution of Populations

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Microevolution

•Natural selection acts on individuals, but only populations evolve.•Microevolution is a change in allele

frequencies in a population over generations

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Concept 23.1Mutation and sexual reproduction produce the genetic variation that makes evolution possible

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•Two processes, mutation and sexual reproduction, produce the variation in gene pools that contributes to differences among individuals

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Genetic Variation

•Variation in individual genotype leads to variation in individual phenotype•Not all phenotypic variation is

heritable•Natural selection can only act on

variation with a genetic component

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Two Types of Variation in Populations

•Discrete characters can be classified on an either-or basis

•Quantitative characters vary along a continuum within a population

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Heterozygosity

• Population geneticists measure polymorphisms in a population by determining the amount of heterozygosity at the gene and molecular levels• Average heterozygosity measures the

average percent of loci that are heterozygous in a population

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Variation Between Populations

•Most species exhibit geographic variation, differences between gene pools of separate populations or population subgroups

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Some geographic variation occurs as a cline, grade change in a trait along a geographic axis.

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Mutations

•Mutations are changes in the nucleotide sequence of DNA•Mutations cause new genes and

alleles to arise•Only mutations in cells that produce

gametes can be passed to offspring•Point mutations – often silent.

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Sexual Reproduction

• Sexual reproduction can shuffle existing alleles into new combinations• In organisms that reproduce sexually,

recombination of alleles is more important than mutation in producing the genetic differences that make adaptation possible

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You should now be able to:

1. Explain why the majority of point mutations are harmless

2. Explain how sexual recombination generates genetic variability

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Concept 23.2The Hardy-Weinberg equation can be used to test whether a population is evolving

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Key Terms

•A population is a localized group of individuals capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring•A gene pool consists of all the alleles

for all loci in a population•A locus is fixed if all individuals in a

population are homozygous for the same allele 17

•By convention, if there are 2 alleles at a locus, p and q are used to represent their frequencies•The frequency of all alleles in a population will add up to 1•For example, p + q = 1

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The Hardy-Weinberg Principle

• The Hardy-Weinberg principle describes a population that is not evolving• If a population does not meet the

criteria of the Hardy-Weinberg principle, it can be concluded that the population is evolving

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Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

• The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a population remain constant from generation to generation• In a given population where gametes

contribute to the next generation randomly, allele frequencies will not change

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• Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes the constant frequency of alleles in such a gene pool• If p and q represent the relative

frequencies of the only two possible alleles in a population at a particular locus, then• p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1•where p2 and q2 represent the

frequencies of the homozygous genotypes and 2pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous genotype

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Conditions for Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

• The Hardy-Weinberg theorem describes a hypothetical population• In real populations, allele and

genotype frequencies do change over time

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• The five conditions for nonevolving populations are rarely met in nature:•No mutations •Random mating •No natural selection • Extremely large population size•No gene flow

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Example 1

• If 9% of an African population is born with a severe form of sickle-cell anemia (ss), what percentage of the population will be more resistant to malaria because they are heterozygous(Ss) for the sickle-cell gene?

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Example 2• This is a classic data set on wing coloration in the scarlet tiger

moth (Panaxia dominula). Coloration in this species had been previously shown to behave as a single-locus, two-allele system with incomplete dominance. Data for 1612 individuals are given below:

• White-spotted (AA) =1469 Intermediate (Aa) = 138 Little spotting (aa) =5

• Calculate the following frequencies: (f)A = (f)a = (f)AA = (f)Aa = (f)aa = 27

You should now be able to:

3. Define the terms population, species, gene pool, relative fitness, and neutral variation

4. List the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium

5. Apply the Hardy-Weinberg equation to a population genetics problem

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Concept 23.3Natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow can alter allele frequencies in a population 29

• Three major factors alter allele frequencies and bring about most evolutionary change:•Natural selection•Genetic drift•Gene flow

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Natural Selection

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Differential success

Genetic Drift

• Genetic drift describes how allele frequencies fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to the next

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The Founder Effect

• The founder effect occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a larger population

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The Bottleneck Effect

• The bottleneck effect is a sudden reduction in population size due to a change in the environment

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Effects of Genetic Drift: A Summary

1. Genetic drift is significant in small populations

2. Genetic drift causes allele frequencies to change at random

3. Genetic drift can lead to a loss of genetic variation within populations

4. Genetic drift can cause harmful alleles to become fixed

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Gene Flow

• Gene flow consists of the movement of alleles among populations• Gene flow tends to reduce differences

between populations over time• Gene flow is more likely than mutation to

alter allele frequencies directly• Gene flow can decrease the fitness of a

population38

You should now be able to:

6. Explain why natural selection is the only mechanism that consistently produces adaptive change

7. Explain the role of population size in genetic drift

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Concept 23.4Natural selection is the only mechanism that consistently causes adaptive evolution 40

•Only natural selection consistently results in adaptive evolution

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Relative Fitness

• Reproductive success is generally subtle and depends on many factors• Relative fitness is the contribution an

individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation, relative to the contributions of other individuals• Selection favors certain genotypes by

acting on the phenotypes of certain organisms 42

Three modes of selection:

1. Directional selection2. Disruptive selection3. Stabilizing selection

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Sexual Selection

• Sexual selection is natural selection for mating success• It can result in sexual dimorphism,

marked differences between the sexes in secondary sexual characteristics

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• Intrasexual selection is competition among individuals of one sex (often males) for mates of the opposite sex• Intersexual selection, often called

mate choice, occurs when individuals of one sex (usually females) are choosy in selecting their mates

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Preserving Genetic Variation

• Diploidy: hidden recessive alleles.• Balancing Selection: natural selection maintains

stable frequencies of two or more phenotypic forms in a population.• Heterozygote advantage occurs when

heterozygotes have a higher fitness than do both homozygotes• Sickle-cell allele.

• Frequency-dependent selection: the fitness of a phenotype declines if it becomes too common in the population

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Why Natural Selection Cannot Create the Perfect Organism:

1. Selection can act only on existing variations

2. Evolution is limited by historical constraints

3. Adaptations are often compromises

4. Chance, natural selection, and the environment interact

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You should now be able to:

8. Distinguish among the following sets of terms: directional, disruptive, and stabilizing selection; intrasexual and intersexual selection

9. List four reasons why natural selection cannot produce perfect organisms

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