BIOEE 1780 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Zygosity, Inbreeding, Genotype Frequency
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Genetic Drift: allele frequencies randomly drift away from their starting value
• Occurs when a random, nonrepresentative sample from a population produces the next generation
• Eliminates alleles faster in small populations than in bigger ones
• Reduces genetic variation in populations
• A form of evolution, even though it isn't adaptive (isn't related to selection, purely results from
chance)
• Example
If a set of parents has only one child…
• 25% chance that the child is AA, and a allele is lost from the family
• 25% chance that the child is aa, and A allele is lost from the family
o If the same process occurs in every family in the generation, allele frequencies may change by
chance.
• Coin Flip
o When you flip a coin four times, what is the probability of getting…
• 0 heads
• 0.54 = 0.0625
• 1 head
• 0.25
• 2 heads
• 0.375
• Highest probability outcome, but not guaranteed
• 3 heads
• 0.25
• 4 heads
• 0.0625
• When a dad with Aa genotype has four offspring, how many offspring will receive the A allele from
him?
o 0 offspring = 0.0625
o 1 offspring = 0.25
o 2 offspring = 0.375
o 3 offspring = 0.25
o 4 offspring = 0.0625
• When randomly selecting organisms from a population (i.e. a random draw):
The frequency of an allele corresponds to the probability that it will be fixed in the population.
• For example, an allele with frequency = 0.8 has an 80% chance of reaching fixation.
Reasons Genetic Drift Occurs
• Catastrophes can change allele frequencies
• Bottlenecks or founder events can change allele frequencies
• Random sampling of gametes and/or adults can change allele frequencies
Fixed Allele: an allele that remains in a population when all of the alternative alleles have disappeared
• No variation exists for that gene in the population (all individuals have the same allele)
Genetic Bottleneck: occurs when the number of individuals in a population is reduced drastically
• Type of genetic drift
• Can result in the loss of rare alleles
Document Summary
For example, an allele with frequency = 0. 8 has an 80% chance of reaching fixation: when randomly selecting organisms from a population (i. e. a random draw): The frequency of an allele corresponds to the probability that it will be fixed in the population. Reasons genetic drift occurs: catastrophes can change allele frequencies, bottlenecks or founder events can change allele frequencies, random sampling of gametes and/or adults can change allele frequencies. Fixed allele: an allele that remains in a population when all of the alternative alleles have disappeared: no variation exists for that gene in the population (all individuals have the same allele) Genetic bottleneck: occurs when the number of individuals in a population is reduced drastically: can result in the loss of rare alleles. On its own, inbreeding doesn"t change the frequency of alleles in a population. Inbreeding isn"t a mechanism of evolution, but it can create the conditions for evolution to occur.