Genetic Variation within Populations

1. Genetic Variation within Populations 11.1

2. Gene Pool: the combined alleles of all of the individuals in a population • Allele frequency: How common a certain allele is in a population

5. The Darwin awards: get these people out of the gene pool! In Modesto, California, Steven Richard King was arrested for trying to hold up a Bank of America branch without a weapon. King used a thumb and a finger to simulate a gun, but unfortunately, he failed to keep his hand in his pocket.(hellllllooooooo!)

6. The Darwin awards: get these people out of the gene pool! • WHAT WAS PLAN B???An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, wherein the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from own his bank accounts.

7. The Darwin awards: get these people out of the gene pool! THE GETAWAY! A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas Kwik Stop, and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked at the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

8. The Darwin awards: get these people out of the gene pool! DID I SAY THAT??? Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a line-up. When detectives asked each man in the line-up to repeat the words: "Give me all your money or I'll shoot," the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"

9. The Darwin awards: get these people out of the gene pool! • ARE WE COMMUNICATING?? A man spoke frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart!" "Is this her first child?" the doctor asked. "No!" the man shouted, "This is her husband!"

10. Genetic variation comes from several sources • Mutation (random error in DNA) • Recombination (crossing over in meiosis I)

11. Quick Quiz Review • Why aren’t mutations in somatic cells sources of genetic variation? • Why does genetic variation increase the chance that some individuals in a population will survive? • Describe two main sources of genetic variation. • In what way is a gene pool representative of a population? • If a certain trait’s allele frequency is 100%, describe the genetic variation for that trait in the population.

12. 11.2 Natural Selection in Populations • Natural selection acts on distributions of traits • Most traits have a normal distribution (bell-shaped curve)

13. Natural Selection can change the distribution of a trait in one of three ways • Directional selection • Stabilizing selection • Disruptive selection

14. Directional Selection • This favors phenotypes at one extreme of a trait’s range • Ex: bacteria with a high resistance to antibiotics are able to out-survive bacteria with a low resistance to antibiotics. Soon the average bacteria has a high resistance to antibiotics.

15. Stabilizing Selection • The intermediate phenotype is favored (survives and reproduces more) • Ex: the gall fly. If it makes a gall that is too big, a woodpecker will eat it; if it makes a gall that is too small, a wasp will eat it. • Goldilocks syndrome

16. Disruptive Selection • When both extremes of phenotype are favored. • The opposite of stabilizing selection • Ex: blue bunting birds get mates because females are attracted to blue feathers. Brown bunting birds get mates because they are not viewed as competition (so no dominant blue birds guard the females against them.)

17. Quick Review • In terms of phenotypes, describe what is meant by the phrase “distribution of traits.” • What are the three ways in which natural selection can change a distribution of traits? • How might the extinction of woodpeckers affect the phenotypic distribution of gall flies? • How might overfishing of large pink salmon select for smaller body size in subsequent generations?