Unit 8: molecular genetics evolution test 2

Molecular phylogenetics

Compare the genetic sequences in a group of taxa to determine the phylogeny that best explains how an ancestral sequence gave rise to the current patterns through mutation and fixation

Gene tree

Refers to the branches genealogical lineage of homologous alleles that traces their evolution back to an ancestral state

Represents the genealogical history of a group of gene copies at the same locus

Coalescence

The process by which, looking back through time, the genealogy of any pair of homologous alleles merges in a common ancestor

Polymorphic

Presence of 2 or more genetically different alleles at a locus within a population

Incomplete Lineage Sorting (ILS)

Describes the case when the history of a gene differs from the history of the species carrying the gene