Vocabulary

Here’s a complete set of Quizlet-style vocabulary flashcards based on the combined content from the three lecture PDFs: EvoDevo Complexity, Major Transitions in Individuality (ETIs), and Evolution of Sex.

🔬 EvoDevo Complexity Flashcards

Q: What is a genotype-phenotype map?
A: A conceptual framework describing how genetic information (genotype) translates into observable traits (phenotype) through development.

Q: Define pleiotropy.
A: A single gene influencing multiple phenotypic traits.

Q: What is epistasis?
A: Interaction between genes where one gene affects the expression of another.

Q: What is canalization?
A: The reduction of phenotypic variation despite genetic and environmental variation.

Q: What is gene duplication?
A: A mutation that results in two copies of a gene, allowing one to evolve a new function.

Q: What is subfunctionalization?
A: The process where duplicate genes divide the work of the ancestral gene.

Q: What is neofunctionalization?
A: The process where a duplicated gene evolves a new function not present in the original gene.

Q: What is antagonistic pleiotropy?
A: When one gene controls multiple traits that have opposite effects on fitness.

Q: What are Hox genes?
A: A family of transcription factors that determine the body plan along the anterior-posterior axis in animals.

Q: What does modularity in development refer to?
A: The organization of traits into modules that can evolve independently.

🌱 Major Transitions in Individuality (ETIs) Flashcards

Q: What is an evolutionary transition in individuality (ETI)?
A: A shift where a group of individuals evolves into a new evolutionary individual.

Q: What is fitness decoupling?
A: The fitness of a group becomes independent of the average fitness of its individual members.

Q: What is the germ-soma distinction?
A: The division between reproductive (germ) and non-reproductive (soma) cells.

Q: Define individuality in an evolutionary context.
A: An integrated and indivisible entity capable of reproduction and subject to selection.

Q: What is an example of increasing individuality in volvocine algae?
A: Evolution from Gonium (low individuality) to Volvox (high individuality) via steps like division of labor and germ-soma separation.

Q: What is reorganization of fitness?
A: A process during ETIs where lower-level units give up some fitness to benefit the higher-level entity.

Q: What is a hypercycle?
A: A system of cooperating molecular replicators that increase evolutionary individuality.

Q: What is a pseudogene?
A: A duplicated gene that has lost its function.

🧬 Evolution of Sex Flashcards

Q: What is the paradox of sex?
A: Sex is costly yet nearly universal among eukaryotes, prompting questions about its evolutionary benefit.

Q: What is the 2-fold cost of males?
A: In sexual populations, only females bear offspring, effectively halving reproductive output.

Q: What is recombination?
A: The breakage and rejoining of DNA to create genetic diversity.

Q: What is Muller's Ratchet?
A: The irreversible accumulation of deleterious mutations in asexual populations.

Q: What is the Fisher-Muller hypothesis?
A: Sex speeds up evolution by combining beneficial mutations.

Q: What is the Red Queen hypothesis?
A: Ongoing coevolution with parasites maintains sex by favoring genetic diversity.

Q: What is linkage disequilibrium (LD)?
A: A non-random association of alleles at different loci.

Q: What is negative epistasis?
A: When the combined effect of beneficial mutations is less than additive, favoring recombination.

Q: What is the DSBR model?
A: The double-strand break repair model explaining molecular recombination during meiosis.

Q: Why did meiosis evolve from DNA repair mechanisms?
A: Recombination during meiosis repairs DNA damage, promoting genetic integrity across generations.

Q: What is co-option?
A: The process by which an existing gene gains a new function, often due to being expressed in a new developmental context.

Q: What are paralogs?
A: Genes that arise from duplication events and may evolve new functions.

Q: What is the DDC model (Duplication-Degeneration-Complementation)?
A: A model explaining subfunctionalization where gene duplicates each retain part of the original gene's functions.

Q: What is dominance in genetics?
A: The relationship between alleles where one masks the expression of another.

Q: What are norms of reaction?
A: The range of phenotypes expressed by a single genotype across different environments.

Q: What is an adaptive landscape?
A: A conceptual model where fitness is plotted as a function of genotype or phenotype.

Q: What is cell inheritance in development?
A: The passing on of cell states and gene expression patterns through mitosis.

🌱 More ETI Terms

Q: What are Darwinian properties?
A: Heritability, variation, and fitness — the three prerequisites for natural selection.

Q: What is physiological integration?
A: The coordination among parts of a group to function as a unified whole.

Q: What is a unicellular bottleneck?
A: A developmental stage where a multicellular organism passes through a single-cell stage, promoting genetic homogeneity.

Q: What is an evolutionary individual?
A: A unit that is functionally integrated and has Darwinian properties at its level of organization.

Q: What is the difference between group and individual level fitness?
A: Group fitness refers to the success of the whole group, while individual fitness refers to each member’s reproductive success.

🧬 More Sex Evolution Terms

Q: What is gene conversion?
A: A non-reciprocal transfer of DNA sequence information during recombination.

Q: What are Holliday junctions?
A: DNA structures formed during recombination that can lead to crossing over.

Q: What is amphimixis?
A: The fusion of gametes from two parents during sexual reproduction.

Q: What is negative linkage disequilibrium?
A: When favorable alleles are associated with unfavorable ones, creating a situation where recombination is beneficial.

Q: What is facultative sex?
A: Organisms that can reproduce both sexually and asexually depending on environmental conditions.

Q: What is recombinational repair?
A: Repair of DNA double-strand breaks using homologous sequences as templates, a mechanism also central to meiosis.

Q: What are ROS (reactive oxygen species)?
A: Molecules that damage DNA and contribute to mutation, often driving the need for DNA repair mechanisms.

Q: What is the “spin cycle” metaphor in sex evolution?
A: A metaphor for how sex and recombination "clean" genomes of deleterious mutations.