The Evolution of Populations Chapter 23 The Evolution of Populations

Overview: The Smallest Unit of Evolution One misconception is that organisms evolve, in the Darwinian sense, during their lifetimes Natural selection acts on individuals, but only populations evolve Microevolution is a change in allele frequencies in a population over generations

Concept 23.1: Mutation and sexual reproduction produce the genetic variation that makes evolution possible Two processes, mutation and sexual reproduction, produce the variation in gene pools that contributes to differences among individuals

Fig. 23-2 (a) (b) Figure 23.2 Nonheritable variation

Most species exhibit geographic variation, differences between gene pools of separate populations or population subgroups 1 2.4 3.14 5.18 6 7.15 8.11 9.12 10.16 13.17 19 XX Figure 23.3 Geographic variation in isolated mouse populations on Madeira 1 2.19 3.8 4.16 5.14 6.7 9.10 11.12 13.17 15.18 XX

Some examples of geographic variation occur as a cline, which is a graded change in a trait along a geographic axis

Ldh-B b allele frequency Fig. 23-4 1.0 0.8 0.6 Ldh-B b allele frequency 0.4 0.2 Figure 23.4 A cline determined by temperature 46 44 42 40 38 36 34 32 30 Latitude (°N) Maine Cold (6°C) Georgia Warm (21°C)

Animation: Genetic Variation from Sexual Recombination Mutation Mutations are changes in the nucleotide sequence of DNA Mutations cause new genes and alleles to arise Only mutations in cells that produce gametes can be passed to offspring Animation: Genetic Variation from Sexual Recombination

A point mutation is a change in one base in a gene The effects of point mutations can vary: Mutations in noncoding regions of DNA are often harmless Mutations in a gene might not affect protein production because of redundancy in the genetic code

The effects of point mutations can vary: Mutations that result in a change in protein production are often harmful Can you name an example? Mutations that result in a change in protein production can sometimes increase the fit between organism and environment

Mutations That Alter Gene Number or Sequence Chromosomal mutations that delete, disrupt, or rearrange many loci are typically harmful Duplication of large chromosome segments is usually harmful Duplication of small pieces of DNA is sometimes less harmful and increases the genome size

Mutation Rates Mutation rates are low in animals and plants The average is about one mutation in every 100,000 genes per generation Mutations rates are often lower in prokaryotes and higher in viruses – as evidenced by the number of flu and cold viruses that affect us

Sexual Reproduction Sexual reproduction can shuffle existing alleles into new combinations through crossing over, independent assortment of chromosomes,

Gene Pools and Allele Frequencies A population is a localized group of individuals capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring Porcupine herd and fortymile herd of caribou – same species, do not interbreed readily A gene pool consists of all the alleles for all loci in a population

Porcupine herd Porcupine herd range Fortymile herd range Fig. 23-5 Porcupine herd MAP AREA CANADA ALASKA Beaufort Sea NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Porcupine herd range Figure 23.5 One species, two populations Fortymile herd range ALASKA YUKON Fortymile herd

The Hardy-Weinberg Principle The Hardy-Weinberg principle describes a population that is not evolving If a population does not meet the criteria of the Hardy-Weinberg principle, it can be concluded that the population is evolving

Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium The Hardy-Weinberg principle states that frequencies of alleles and genotypes in a population remain constant from generation to generation In a given population where gametes contribute to the next generation randomly, allele frequencies will not change The Hardy-Weinberg theorem describes a hypothetical population In real populations, allele and genotype frequencies do change over time

Alleles in the population Frequencies of alleles Fig. 23-6 Alleles in the population Frequencies of alleles Gametes produced p = frequency of Each egg: Each sperm: CR allele = 0.8 q = frequency of 80% chance 20% chance 80% chance 20% chance CW allele = 0.2 Figure 23.6 Selecting alleles at random from a gene pool

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium describes the constant frequency of alleles in such a gene pool If p and q represent the relative frequencies of the only two possible alleles in a population at a particular locus, then p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1 where p2 and q2 represent the frequencies of the homozygous genotypes and 2pq represents the frequency of the heterozygous genotype

The five conditions for nonevolving populations are rarely met in nature: No mutations Random mating No natural selection Extremely large population size No gene flow

Concept 23.3: Natural selection, genetic drift, and gene flow can alter allele frequencies in a population Three major factors alter allele frequencies and bring about most evolutionary change: Natural selection Genetic drift Gene flow

Animation: Causes of Evolutionary Change Genetic Drift Genetic drift describes how allele frequencies fluctuate unpredictably from one generation to the next Genetic drift tends to reduce genetic variation through losses of alleles Founder Effect Bottleneck Effect Animation: Causes of Evolutionary Change

The Founder Effect The founder effect occurs when a few individuals become isolated from a larger population Allele frequencies in the small founder population can be different from those in the larger parent population Ex: Ellis-van Creveld Syndrome

The Bottleneck Effect The bottleneck effect is a sudden reduction in population size due to a change in the environment The resulting gene pool may no longer be reflective of the original population’s gene pool If the population remains small, it may be further affected by genetic drift

Original population Bottlenecking event Surviving population Fig. 23-9 Figure 23.9 The bottleneck effect Original population Bottlenecking event Surviving population

Case Study: Impact of Genetic Drift on the Greater Prairie Chicken Understanding the bottleneck effect can increase understanding of how human activity affects other species Loss of prairie habitat caused a severe reduction in the population of greater prairie chickens in Illinois The surviving birds had low levels of genetic variation, and only 50% of their eggs hatched

Fig. 23-10 Pre-bottleneck (Illinois, 1820) Post-bottleneck (Illinois, 1993) Range of greater prairie chicken (a) Number of alleles per locus Percentage of eggs hatched Population size Location Illinois 5.2 3.7 93 <50 1930–1960s 1,000–25,000 1993 <50 Figure 23.10 Bottleneck effect and reduction of genetic variation Kansas, 1998     (no bottleneck) 750,000 5.8 99 Nebraska, 1998     (no bottleneck) 75,000– 200,000 5.8 96 Minnesota, 1998     (no bottleneck) 4,000 5.3 85 (b)

Researchers used DNA from museum specimens to compare genetic variation in the population before and after the bottleneck The results showed a loss of alleles at several loci Researchers introduced greater prairie chickens from population in other states and were successful in introducing new alleles and increasing the egg hatch rate to 90%

Gene Flow Gene flow consists of the movement of alleles among populations Alleles can be transferred through the movement of fertile individuals or gametes (for example, pollen) Gene flow tends to reduce differences between populations over time Gene flow is more likely than mutation to alter allele frequencies directly

Fig. 23-11 Figure 23.11 Gene flow and human evolution

Concept 23.4: Natural selection is the only mechanism that consistently causes adaptive evolution Only natural selection consistently results in adaptive evolution Natural selection brings about adaptive evolution by acting on an organism’s phenotype

Relative fitness is the contribution an individual makes to the gene pool of the next generation, relative to the contributions of other individuals Selection favors certain genotypes by acting on the phenotypes of certain organisms

Directional, Disruptive, and Stabilizing Selection Three modes of selection: Directional selection favors individuals at one end of the phenotypic range Disruptive selection favors individuals at both extremes of the phenotypic range Stabilizing selection favors intermediate variants and acts against extreme phenotypes

Frequency of individuals Fig. 23-13 Original population Frequency of individuals Phenotypes (fur color) Original population Evolved population Figure 23.13 Modes of selection (a) Directional selection (b) Disruptive selection (c) Stabilizing selection

Stabilizing Selection

Sexual Selection Sexual selection is natural selection for mating success It can result in sexual dimorphism, marked differences between the sexes in secondary sexual characteristics

Intrasexual selection is competition among individuals of one sex (often males) for mates of the opposite sex Intersexual selection, often called mate choice, occurs when individuals of one sex (usually females) are choosy in selecting their mates Male showiness due to mate choice can increase a male’s chances of attracting a female, while decreasing his chances of survival

Heterozygote Advantage Heterozygote advantage occurs when heterozygotes have a higher fitness than do both homozygotes Natural selection will tend to maintain two or more alleles at that locus The sickle-cell allele causes mutations in hemoglobin but also confers malaria resistance

Plasmodium falciparum (a parasitic unicellular eukaryote) 7.5–10.0% Fig. 23-17 Frequencies of the sickle-cell allele 0–2.5% Figure 23.17 Mapping malaria and the sickle-cell allele 2.5–5.0% 5.0–7.5% Distribution of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (a parasitic unicellular eukaryote) 7.5–10.0% 10.0–12.5% >12.5%

Why Natural Selection Cannot Fashion Perfect Organisms Selection can act only on existing variations Evolution is limited by historical constraints Adaptations are often compromises Chance, natural selection, and the environment interact

Fig. 23-19 Figure 23.19 Evolutionary compromise