Factors initiating elementary
evolutionary changes
(Microevolution)
Microevolution
Microevolution is “the change in allele frequencies that occurs over
time within a population”
Hardy weinberg Equilibrium
• [Link] (Mathematician) and [Link] a German physicist in
1908 stated in his Law that. . .
“ in a large randomly mating population, without selection and
mutation the gene frequency remains constant”.
Mathematically::
• p + q = 100% (p= frequency of one allele in population (T) ). (q=
frequency of second allele (t) ).
The Hardy-Weinberg equation highlights the
fact that sexual reproduction does not alter
the allele frequencies in a gene pool.
• Five factors impact the Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium and create their own method
for microevolution.
• [Link] pressure
• [Link]
• [Link] drift
• [Link] breeding
• [Link] pressure
[Link] pressure
A mutation is an inheritable change of a gene by one of several
different mechanisms that alter the DNA sequencing of an existing
allele to create a new allele for that gene.
• A primary mechanism for microevolution is the formation of new
alleles by mutation.
Spontaneous errors in the replication of DNA create new alleles
instantly while physical and chemical mutagens, such as ultraviolet
light,create mutations constantly at a lower rate.
• Mutations affect the genetic equilibrium by altering the DNA, thus
creating new alleles that may then become part of the reproductive
gene pool for a population. When a new allele creates an advantage for
the offspring, the number of individuals with the new allele may
increase dramatically through successive generations. This
phenomenon is not caused by the mutation somehow
overmanufacturing the allele, but by the successful reproduction of
individuals who possess the new allele. Because mutations are
the only process that creates new alleles, it is the only mechanism that
ultimately increases genetic variation.
[Link]
Gene migration is the movement of alleles into or out of a population
either by the immigration or emigration by individuals or groups. When
genes flow from one population to another, that flow may increase the
genetic variation for the individual populations.
[Link] Drift
Genetic drift is the phenomenon whereby chance or random events change the allele
frequencies in a population. Genetic drift has a tremendous effect on small populations
where the gene pool is so small that minor chance events greatly influence the Hardy-
Weinberg arithmetic. The failure of a single organism or small groups of organisms to
reproduce creates a large genetic drift in a small population because of the loss of genes
that were not conveyed to the next generation. Conversely, large populations, statistically
defined as greater than 100 reproducing individuals, are proportionally less affected by
isolated random events and retain more stable allele frequency with low genetic drift.
The founder effect is the reduction in genetic variation that results when a
small subset of a large population is used to establish a new colony.
The bottleneck effect is an extreme example of genetic drift that
happens when the size of a population is severely reduced. Events like
natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, fires) can decimate a population,
killing most individuals and leaving behind a small, random assortment
of survivors.
[Link] breeding
The Hardy-Weinberg equation assumes that all males have an equal
chance to fertilize all females. However, in nature, this seldom is true .
In fact, the ultimate nonrandom mating is the act of self-fertilization
that is common in some plants. In other cases, as the reproductive
season approaches, the number of desirable mates is limited by their
presence (or absence) as well as by their competitive premating rituals.
Finally, botanists and zoologists practice nonrandom mating as they
attempt to breed more and better organisms for economic benefit.
[Link] pressure
The process by which comparatively better adapted individuals out of a
heterogeneous population are favoured by the Nature over the less adapted
individuals is called natural selection.
• The process of natural selection operates through differential reproduction.
It means that those individuals, which are best adapted to the environment,
survive longer and reproduce at a higher rate and produce more offsprings
than those which are less adapted. So the formers contribute proportionately
greater percentage of genes to the gene pool of next generation while less
adapted individuals produce fewer offsprings. If differential reproduction
continues for a number of generations, then the genes of those individuals
which produce more offsprings will become predominant in the gene pool of
the population