Molecular Evolution and Evolutionary Genetics

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts related to molecular evolution and evolutionary genetics, including definitions and descriptions of important genetic phenomena.

Homologs

Genes derived from a common ancestral gene.

Orthologs

Homologous genes found in different species.

Paralogs

Homologous genes found in the same species, resulting from gene duplication.

Molecular Evolution

The study of how DNA/RNA changes over evolutionary time and the consequences of these changes.

Evolutionary Genetics

The field that relates phenotypic changes during evolution to the genetic changes causing them.

Gene Duplication

The process where a gene is copied, leading to two copies that may evolve separately.

Shared Derived Characters

Traits shared by a group of species that were not present in distant ancestors.

Phylogenies

The evolutionary history of species, often represented by a tree-like diagram.

Neutral Theory of Evolution

The theory stating that most genetic variation is due to the accumulation of neutral mutations.

Molecular Clock

A technique for measuring evolutionary time based on the rate of neutral mutations.

Amino Acid Saturation

The concept that distant relationships may revert DNA mutations back to an ancestral state over time.

Conservative Amino Acid Changes

Amino acid substitutions that do not significantly alter protein structure/function.

Adaptive Mutations

Mutations that confer a selective advantage to the organism.

Gene Function Evolution

The emergence of new gene functions often following gene duplication events.

Gene Expression

The process by which information from a gene is used to synthesize a functional gene product (e.g., proteins).