Selection and

Evolution
0
1 Variation
Genetic variation is caused by

1. Independent assortment of
chromosomes, and therefore alleles,
during meiosis

2. Crossing over between chromatids

of homologous chromosomes
during meiosis

3. Random mating between organisms

within a species

4. Random fertilisation of gametes

5. mutation
• The first four of these
processes reshuffle existing
alleles in the population

• Then mutation, however, does

not reshuffle alleles that are
already present. Mutation
can produce completely new
alleles.

• Such a change in a gene,

which is quite unpredictable,
is called a gene mutation
● Mutations that occur in body cells, or
somatic cells, often have no effects at
all on the organism

● .However, mutations in cells in the

ovaries or testes of an animal, or in
the ovaries or anthers of a plant, may
be inherited by offspring
• Genetic variation, whether
caused by the reshuffling of
alleles during meiosis and
sexual reproduction or by the
introduction of new alleles by
mutation, can be passed on by
parents to their offspring,
giving differences in phenotype.

• Variation in phenotype is also

caused by the environment in
which organisms live. Variation
caused by the environment is
not passed on by parents to
their offspring.
 Continuous
0 and
1 discontinuous
variation
• Phenotypic differences between you
and your friends include qualitative
differences such as blood groups
and quantitative differences such as
height and mass.

• Qualitative differences fall into

clearly distinguishable categories.
This is discontinuous variation 02
• the quantitative differences between
your individual heights or masses
may be small and difficult to
distinguish. This is continuous
variation
 The genetic
basis of
0
continuous and
1 discontinuous
variation
 Discontinuous
(qualitative) variation
2
02 Different genes have
quite different effects on
the phenotype.
1
Different alleles at a 01
single gene locus
have large effects on
the phenotype
 The inheritance of sickle cell anaemia and
haemophilia are examples of discontinuous
variation in humans. From these examples,
you can see that dominance and gene
interaction tend to reduce phenotypic
variation.
 Continuous
(quantitative)
variation02 2
Different genes have
the same, often
additive, effect on the
1 phenotype
Different alleles at a 01
single gene locus 3
have small effects on
the phenotype 03 A large number of genes
may have a combined effect
on a particular phenotypic
trait; these genes are known
as polygenes.
Two of the typical effects of the inheritance of
continuous variation, namely the small effects
of the different alleles of one gene on the
phenotype and the additive effect of different
genes on the same phenotypic character, can
be seen in a hypothetical example of the
inheritance of an organism’s height
Height of an organism is controlled by two unlinked (that is, on different
chromosomes) genes: A/a and B/b. The recessive alleles of both genes (a
and b) each contribute x cm to the height of the organism. The
dominant alleles (A and B) each add 2x cm
Interbreeding these potentially 6x cm tall offspring gives
all possible genotypes and phenotypes among the 16
possibilities.
• Exercise

• 1) Find the number of offspring and

potential height from parents with 6x
tall (AaBb) and 5x tall (Aabb).

• 2) Find the number of offspring and

offsprings’ potential height from
parents with 5x tall (aaBb) and 5x tall
(Aabb).

• 3) Height of a plant is controlled by 3

02
genes called polygenic. Minimum height
must be 36 cm, and maximum height is
48 cm. Find contribution of each Allele
(dominant and recessive) to the height
of plant. Find height of “AaBbCC”
 Environmental
0 effects on the
1 phenotype
• If you were able to take a number of
individuals, all with the same
genotypic contribution to height, it
would be most unlikely that their
heights would be exactly the same
when measured.

• Environmental effects may allow

the full genetic potential height to be
reached or may stunt it in some way.
02
One individual might have less food,
or less nutritious food, than another
with the same genetic contribution.
 Natural
0
selection
1
• All organisms have the reproductive
potential to increase their
populations. Rabbits, for example, If
all the young rabbits survived to
adulthood and reproduced, then the
rabbit population would increase
rapidly

• This sort of population growth

actually did happen in Australia in
02
the 19th century. In 1859, 12 pairs of
rabbits from Britain were released
on a ranch in Victoria, as a source of
food.
• As a population of rabbits increases,
various environmental factors come
into play to keep down the rabbits’
numbers.

• These factors may be biotic – caused

by other living organisms such as
through predation, competition for

•
food, or infection by pathogens .

Then, these factors may be abiotic –

caused by non-living components of
02
the environment such as water
supply or nutrient levels in the soil.
• The increasing number of rabbits eat
an increasing amount of vegetation,
until food is in short supply.

• The larger population of rabbits may

allow the populations of predators

02
such as foxes, stoats and weasels to
increase.

• Overcrowding may occur, increasing

the ease with which diseases such as
myxomatosis may spread
• These environmental factors act to
reduce the rate of growth of the rabbit
population

• The number of young produced is far

greater than the number which will
survive to adulthood.

• However, some rabbits will be born with

•
a better chance of survival than others.

White rabbits will stand out distinctly

from the others, and are more likely to be
02
picked out by a predator such as a fox.
They are less likely to survive than
agouti rabbits.
• The capacity of an organism to
survive and transmit its genotype to
its offspring is called fitness

• Predation by foxes is an example of

a selection pressure. Selection
pressures increase the chances of

02
some alleles being passed on to the
next generation, and decrease the
chances of others.

• The effects of such selection

pressures on the frequency of alleles
in a population is called natural
selection.
0
Evolution
1
• The general theory of evolution is
that organisms have changed over
time. Usually, natural selection
keeps things the way they are.
This is stabilising selection
• If a new environmental factor or a
new allele appears, then allele
frequencies may also change. This
is called directional selection
• A third type of selection, called
disruptive selection, can occur
when conditions favour both
extremes of a population
 A new
0 environmental
factor
1
• If we are plunged into a new Ice
Age. Rabbits with white fur are
more likely to survive and
reproduce, passing on their alleles
for white fur to their offspring. The
frequency of the allele for white coat
increases at the expense of the allele
for agouti.
02
0
A new allele
1
• Imagine that a mutation occurs in
the coat colour gene of a rabbit,
producing a new allele which gives
a better camouflage coat colour than
agouti.

• Rabbits possessing this new allele

02
will have a selective advantage.
They will be more likely to survive
and reproduce than agouti rabbits, so
the new allele will become more
common in the population.

• Over many generations, almost all

rabbits will come to have the new
allele.
Antibiotic resistance

• One example of such an allele

occurs in some populations of the
bacterium Staphylococcus, where
some individual bacteria produce an
enzyme, penicillinase, which

02
inactivates penicillin.

• When someone takes penicillin to

treat a bacterial infection, the
bacteria without this allele will be
killed, while those bacteria with
resistance to penicillin can survive
and reproduce
Industrial melanism

• The difference in the black and speckled

forms of the moth is caused by a single
gene. The normal speckled colouring is
produced by a recessive allele of this
gene, c, while the black colour is
produced by a dominant allele, C.

• The frequency of the allele C increased

in areas near to industrial cities. In non-
industrial areas, the allele c remained the
02
more common allele. The selection
pressure causing the change of allele
frequency in industrial areas was
predation by birds.
 The Hardy–
0 Weinberg
principle
1
• When a particular phenotypic trait is
controlled by two alleles of a single
gene, A/a, the population will be
made up of three genotypes: AA, Aa
and aa.

• Calculations based on the Hardy–

Weinberg principle allow the
proportions of each of these
02
genotypes in a large, randomly
mating population to be calculated.
These Hardy–Weinberg calculations do
not apply when

• The population is small

• Significant selective pressure against

02
one of the genotypes
• Migration of individuals carrying one
of the two alleles into, or out of, the
population
• Non-random mating.
We use the letter p to represent the
frequency of the dominant allele, A, in
the population and the letter q to
represent the frequency of the recessive
allele, a.

p + q = 1 (Equation 1)

p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1 (Equation 2)
02
0 Artificial
Selection
1
When humans purposefully apply
selection pressures to populations, the
process is known as artificial selection.
02
Selective breeding of dairy cattle

• For thousands of years, people have

tried to ‘improve’ their cattle.
Desired features include docility
(making the animal easier to
control), fast growth rates and high
milk yields. Increases in these
characteristics have been achieved
02
by selective breeding.
• Individuals showing one or more of
desired features to a larger degree
than other individuals are chosen for
breeding.

• Over many generations, alleles

conferring the desired characteristics

02
increase in frequency, while those
conferring characteristics not desired
by the breeder decrease in frequency.

• In many cases, such

‘disadvantageous’ alleles are lost
entirely. Example: selective breeding
of dairy cattle
Crop improvement

• Selective breeding continues to be

the main method by which new
varieties of crop plants are produced.

• In some cases, however, gene

02
technology is being used to alter or
add genes into a species in order to
change its characteristics.

• Most modern varieties of wheat

belong to the species Triticum
aestivum
0 Species and
speciation
1
• How new species could be produced is
called speciation.

• One definition of a species is: a group of

organisms, with similar morphological,
physiological, biochemical and
behavioural features, which can
interbreed to produce fertile offspring,

02
and are reproductively isolated from other
species

• Morphological’ features are structural

features, while ‘physiological’ features are
the way that the body works.
‘Biochemical’ features include the
sequence of bases in DNA molecules and
the sequence of amino acids in proteins.
Allopatric speciation

• Speciation which happens when two

populations are separated from each other
geographically, is called allopatric
speciation. ‘Allopatric’ means ‘in
different places’.

• Example, a population of a species of bird

02
arrived on one of the Hawaiian islands
from mainland America. The selection
pressures on the island were very different
from those on the mainland, resulting in
different alleles being selected for. Over
time, features of the island population
became so different from the mainland
population that the two populations could
no longer interbreed
Sympatric speciation

• The commonest way in which sympatric

speciation can occur is through
polyploidy. A polyploid organism is one
with more than two complete sets of
chromosomes in its cells

• The zygote gets four complete sets of

02
chromosomes. It is said to be tetraploid.

• The kind of polyploid just described

contained four sets of chromosomes all
from the same species. It is said to be an
autopolyploid. Polyploids can also be
formed that contain, say, two sets of
chromosomes from one species and two
sets from another closely related species.
They are called allopolyploids.
 Molecular
0 comparisons
between species
1
Molecular evidence from comparisons of the
amino acid sequences of proteins and of the
nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA

02
can be used to reveal similarities between
related species.
0
Extinctions
1
• Species may become extinct, perhaps as a
result of a change in climate or increased
competition from a better adapted species.

• We are currently facing the likelihood of

another mass extinction, this time caused
by human. The main reason for this is the

•
loss of habitats.

Example : Orang-utans live only in dense

tropical forest in Borneo. Deforestation is
02
threatening their survival.
0
Review
1
Question 1

Height of an organism is controlled

by two unlinked genes: D/d and E/e.
Find the ratio of offspring genotype
and phenotype from parents with 6x
tall (DdEe) and 5x tall (ddEe).
02
Question 2

Find the ratio of offspring genotype

and phenotype from parents with 6x
tall (DdEe) and 6x tall (DDee).
02
Question 3

Inbreeding of 2 individuals produces 2

02
variations of offspring phenotypes: 6x
tall and 5x tall. Number of offspring
from this inbreeding is 10 individuals
are 6x tall and 10 individuals are 5x
tall. What are possible parental
genotype and phenotype? Prove it!
Question 4

Inbreeding of 2 individuals produces 3

02
variations of offspring phenotypes: 6x
tall, 5x tall and 4x tall. Number of
offspring from this inbreeding is 5
individuals with 6x tall, 10 individuals
with 5x tall and 5 individuals with 4x
tall. What are possible parental
genotype and phenotype? Prove it!
Question 5

A phenotypic trait is controlled by two

02
alleles of a single gene A/a. Calculate
the proportions of homozygous
dominant in a population in which the
proportion of homozygous recessives is
1%.
Question 6

A phenotypic trait is controlled by two

02
alleles of a single gene B/b. Calculate
the proportions of heterozygous
genotype in a population in which the
proportion of homozygous recessives is
0.01%.
Question 7

Suppose that the incidence of the bb genotype is

02
90 in 1000 individuals. Calculate the proportions
of Allele B and Allele b!
Question 8

Suppose that the incidence of the bb genotype is

02
40 in 1000 individuals. Calculate the proportions
of heterozygous genotype!
Question 9

The number of people in an area is 10.000

02
individuals. 9 people are albino and the rest are
normal. The albino is determined by the recessive
allele a. While the normal one is determined by
the dominant allele A. Find number of
heterozygous individuals (Aa) in a population.
Question 10

The number of the sheep population in an area is

02
625 individuals. 525 sheep are white and the rest
are black. The white color is determined by the
dominant allele W. While the black one is
determined by the recessive allele w. Find
frequency of allele W and w. Calculate the
proportions of heterozygous individuals (Ww) in a
population.
Bonus
Question 11

Inhabitant of a city are 100.000 people.

Known that frequency of allele IA, IB,
I0 respectively is 0.3, 0.1, and 0.6.
10% of inhabitant are sampled. Find
the number of people with blood group
A 02
Clue - p + q + r = 1
p2 + 2pq + q2 + 2 qr + r2 + 2 pr = 1