Biology 3005

Genome Stability

The feature of every organism to preserve and faithfully transmit the genetic material from generation to generation or from one somatic cell to another.

Genome Evolution

Changes in the genome structure or genome size over time, including those due to epigenetic modifications.

Genome Instability

The increased rate of DNA damage and associated mutations, influenced by internal and external factors.

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

A French biologist who proposed the first theory of evolution, suggesting organisms transform due to new needs.

Lamarck's Law 1

Lamarck's concept that life possesses an inherent tendency to increase the size of every body and enlarge its parts.

Lamarck's Law 2

Lamarck's concept that the appearance of a new organ results from a new want or need that is constantly felt.

Lamarck’s Law 3

Lamarck's view that the development and strength of organs are proportional to their use.

Lamarck’s Law 4

Lamarck's theory that acquired traits or changes during an individual's life are preserved and transmitted to offspring.

Charles Robert Darwin

An English naturalist known for his contributions to the science of evolution, particularly the theory of natural selection.

Natural Selection

Darwin's concept that organisms evolve through the process where the fittest have higher chances to pass their genes.

Modern Evolutionary Synthesis (MES)

The modern synthesis of evolutionary theory that includes natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow.

Genetic Drift

Variation in the relative frequency of different genotypes in a small population due to the disappearance of particular genes.

Gene Flow

The transfer of alleles from one population to another through the immigration of individuals.

Punctuated Equilibrium

Proposed that evolutionary changes occur in rapid spurts coincident with increased speciation rates.

Symbiotic Interaction

Coexistence of species in parasitic, commensalistic, and mutualistic ways, influencing genome evolution.

Endosymbiotic Theory

Theory explaining the appearance of eukaryotic organisms as a result of symbiotic relationships between bacteria.

Iridocytes

Special type of cells in some clam species that contain microscopic towers of algae cells, resembling grana in chloroplasts.

Endosymbiotic Gene Transfer

The process by which chloroplasts lose many genes, either due to elimination or transfer to the nuclear genome.

Silent Mutation

Mutation that does not result in a change of the phenotype.

Point Mutation

Mutation that replaces one base with another, can change phenotype unless silent.

Frame Shift Mutation

Mutation involving insertion or deletion that can result in non synonymous changes.

The transfer of genetic material between asexually reproducing organisms.

Horizontal transfer

Transposons

Genetic elements capable of excision and reinsertion (conservative transposition) or making a DNA copy first (replicative transposition).

Retrotransposons

Genetic elements that amplify in the genome through RNA intermediates and reverse transcription followed by reinsertion.

Synonymous mutations

Mutations that do not result in a change of the phenotype.

Synonymous mutations

Silent mutations

Nonsynonymous mutations

Mutations that result in changes to amino acid with similar properties.

Mutations that spread through random genetic drift and without a positive selection pressure.

The neutral theory of evolution.

Monte Carlo simulation performed by Kimura

Rare mutant gene in the effective population Ne can be fixed in 4Ne generations while being under the neutral selection pressure.

The genetic hitchhiking

A mechanism of selection and fixation of alleles that are in a close proximity from other alleles that are under a high selection pressure.

Uniformitarianism

All laws of the universe operate at a steady constant rate.

Neutral selection pressure

The rate of mutation fixation equals the rate of the introduction of such mutations.

Catastrophism

Suggests that the geological features of our planet have been influenced by rapid violent catastrophic events.

John Drake's experiments

Drake suggests that organisms under strong selection for rapid replication cannot maximize the fidelity of DNA replacement without limiting the rate of DNA synthesis necessary for daughter cell production.

Epigenetic modifications

Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation and histone modifications: regulate gene expression and thus contribute to the phenotype appearance.