GN 301 Module 7: Population Genetics and Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

What is a population?

A group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area and can interbreed.

What is population genetics?

The study of genetic variation and its distribution within and among populations.

What is a gene pool?

The total collection of genes in a population at a given time.

What is genetic drift?

Random fluctuations in the frequency of alleles in a population due to chance events.

What is the founder effect?

A type of genetic drift that occurs when a small group of individuals establishes a new population.

What is the bottleneck effect?

A type of genetic drift that occurs when a population undergoes a dramatic reduction in size.

What is gene flow?

The movement of genes from one population to another through migration or dispersal.

What is genetic variation?

The diversity of genetic material within a population or species.

What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle?

A mathematical model that predicts the genotype frequencies of a population under certain conditions.

What are the five conditions that must be met for a population to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

Random mating, no migration, no mutation, no natural selection, and large population size.

What is the formula for calculating the expected genotype frequencies under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

p^2 + 2pq + q^2 \= 1, where p and q are the frequencies of the two alleles.

What is the formula for calculating the expected allele frequencies under Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

p + q \= 1, where p and q are the frequencies of the two alleles.

What is the significance of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium?

It provides a baseline for understanding how evolution acts on a population, and deviations from it can indicate the presence of evolutionary processes.

What is positive assortative mating?

When individuals mate with others who are similar to them in certain traits.

What is negative assortative mating?

When individuals mate with others who are dissimilar to them in certain traits.

What is inbreeding?

Mating between closely related individuals.

What is outbreeding?

Mating between genetically dissimilar individuals.

What is heterozygote advantage?

When heterozygous individuals have a higher fitness than homozygous individuals.

What is frequency-dependent selection?

When the fitness of a particular phenotype depends on its frequency in the population.

What is directional selection?

When selection acts to favor one extreme of a range of phenotypic variation.