BIO A01 Lecture 2: Microevolution - Genetic Changes within Populations

Vocabulary flashcards covering core principles of microevolution, phenotypic variation, Mendelian inheritance laws, and population genetics from BIO A01 Lecture 2.

Biological Evolution

A change in allele or genotype frequencies within a population over time, occurring across generations rather than within individuals.

Adaptive Radiation

A process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms when changes in the environment create new resources, challenges, or environmental niches.

Microevolution

Evolutionary change that occurs at the level of a population or within a single species, driven by natural selection and other evolutionary forces.

Macroevolution

Large-scale evolutionary patterns and processes that occur between species and across longer periods of evolutionary time.

Population

A group of individuals of the same species that inhabit the same geographic area at the same time and interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

Phenotypic Variation

Heritable variation in the observable physical appearance, structure, or function among individuals of a species.

Qualitative Variation

Phenotypic variation characterized by distinct, discrete states with no intermediate forms, often represented by discrete polymorphisms.

Polymorphism

The coexistence of two or more distinct, discontinuous variants or states of a qualitative character within a population.

Quantitative Variation

Phenotypic variation characterized by a continuous spectrum of measurable values across a population, typically controlled by multiple interacting genes.

Law of Segregation

Mendel's principle stating that diploid organisms possess two alleles for each trait that separate during gamete formation, such that each gamete carries only one allele, and offspring receive one from each parent.

Law of Independent Assortment

Mendel's principle stating that the inheritance of an allele for one gene operates independently of the inheritance of another gene, provided the genes are not genetically linked.

Law of Dominance

Mendel's principle stating that when an individual possesses two different alleles for a trait (heterozygote), the dominant allele will mask the phenotypic expression of the recessive allele.

Germ-Line Mutations

Mutational changes occurring in reproductive cells that can be transmitted to subsequent generations, generating new alleles.

Genetic Recombination

The production of offspring with new combinations of traits inherited from two parents, generated through crossing over, independent assortment, and random fertilization.

Population Genetics

The subdiscipline of biology that investigates the patterns and causes of genetic variation and allele dynamics within populations.

Gene Pool

The total sum of all alleles across every gene locus present in all individuals belonging to a population.

Penicillin

The first naturally derived antibiotic drug, produced by the mold Penicillium and discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, representing an evolved microbial defense against bacteria.

Brassica oleracea

A common wild mustard species from which extensive artificial selection has derived multiple cultivated vegetable crops, including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, and kohlrabi.