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18.1: Chapter 3- Population Evolution (and the Modern Synthesis)

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    110601
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    Learning Objectives
    1. Define population genetics and describe how population genetics is used in the study of the evolution of populations.
    2. Explain what is meant by "the modern synthesis."
    3. Define phenotypic change and genotypic change.
    4. Discuss the importance of allele frequency in modern conceptions of evolution.
    5. Define genetic drift.
    6. Explain Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and the significance of deviations from it.

    Overview

    Natural selection is the most dominant of evolutionary forces. Natural selection acts to promote traits and behaviors that increase an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction, while eliminating those traits and behaviors that are to the organism’s detriment. But natural selection can only, as its name implies, select—it cannot create. The introduction of novel traits and behaviors falls on the shoulders of another evolutionary force—mutation. Mutation and other sources of variation among individuals, as well as the evolutionary forces that act upon them, alter populations and species. This combination of processes has led to the world of life we see today.

    1. Introduction. All life on Earth is related. Evolutionary theory states that humans, beetles, plants, and bacteria all share a common ancestor, but that millions of years of evolution have shaped each of these organisms into the forms seen today. Scientists consider evolution a key concept to understanding life. Natural selection is one of the most dominant evolutionary forces.
    2. Population Evolution. Initially, the newly discovered particulate nature of genes made it difficult for biologists to understand how gradual evolution could occur. But over the next few decades, genetics and evolution were integrated in what became known as the modern synthesis—the coherent understanding of the relationship between natural selection and genetics that took shape by the 1940s and is generally accepted today.
    3. Population Genetics. Individuals of a population often display different phenotypes, or express different alleles of a particular gene, referred to as polymorphisms. Populations with two or more variations of particular characteristics are called polymorphic. The distribution of phenotypes among individuals, known as the population variation, is influenced by a number of factors, including the population’s genetic structure and the environment.
    4. Adaptive Evolution. Fitness is often quantifiable and is measured by scientists in the field. However, it is not the absolute fitness of an individual that counts, but rather how it compares to the other organisms in the population. This concept, called relative fitness, allows researchers to determine which individuals are contributing additional offspring to the next generation, and thus, how the population might evolve.

    Introduction

    This photo collage shows a wolf, a cucumber-shaped protozoan, a sea sponge, a slime mold, lichen, the shore of a lake with algae and trees, a spiny lion fish, a mushroom, a sequoia, and a bumblebee drinking nectar from a flower.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Living things may be single-celled or complex, multicellular organisms. They may be plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, or archaea. This diversity results from evolution. (credit "wolf": modification of work by Gary Kramer; credit "coral": modification of work by William Harrigan, NOAA; credit "river": modification of work by Vojtěch Dostál; credit "fish" modification of work by Christian Mehlführer; credit "mushroom": modification of work by Cory Zanker; credit "tree": modification of work by Joseph Kranak; credit "bee": modification of work by Cory Zanker)

    All life on Earth is related. Evolutionary theory states that humans, beetles, plants, and bacteria all share a common ancestor, but that millions of years of evolution have shaped each of these organisms into the forms seen today. Scientists consider evolution a key concept to understanding life. Natural selection is one of the most dominant evolutionary forces. Natural selection acts to promote traits and behaviors that increase an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction, while eliminating those traits and behaviors that are to the organism’s detriment. But natural selection can only, as its name implies, select—it cannot create. The introduction of novel traits and behaviors falls on the shoulders of another evolutionary force—mutation. Mutation and other sources of variation among individuals, as well as the evolutionary forces that act upon them, alter populations and species. This combination of processes has led to the world of life we see today--the physical and psychological traits of each species.

    Population Evolution

    The mechanisms of inheritance, or genetics, were not understood at the time Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace were developing their idea of natural selection. This lack of understanding was a stumbling block to understanding many aspects of evolution. In fact, the predominant (and incorrect) genetic theory of the time, blending inheritance, made it difficult to understand how natural selection might operate. Darwin and Wallace were unaware of the genetics work by Austrian monk Gregor Mendel, which was published in 1866, not long after publication of Darwin's book, On the Origin of Species (1859). Mendel’s work was rediscovered in the early twentieth century at which time geneticists were rapidly coming to an understanding of the basics of inheritance. Initially, the newly discovered particulate nature of genes made it difficult for biologists to understand how gradual evolution could occur. But over the next few decades, genetics and evolution were integrated in what became known as the modern synthesis—the coherent understanding of the relationship between natural selection and genetics that took shape by the 1940s and is generally accepted today. In sum, the modern synthesis describes how evolutionary processes, such as natural selection, can affect a population’s genetic makeup, and, in turn, how this can result in the gradual evolution of populations and species. The theory also connects this change of a population over time, called microevolution, with the processes that gave rise to new species and higher taxonomic groups with widely divergent characters, called macroevolution.

    Everyday Connection: Evolution and Flu Vaccines

    Every fall, the media starts reporting on flu vaccinations and potential outbreaks. Scientists, health experts, and institutions determine recommendations for different parts of the population, predict optimal production and inoculation schedules, create vaccines, and set up clinics to provide inoculations. You may think of the annual flu shot as a lot of media hype, an important health protection, or just a briefly uncomfortable prick in your arm. But do you think of it in terms of evolution?

    The media hype of annual flu shots is scientifically grounded in our understanding of evolution. Each year, scientists across the globe strive to predict the flu strains that they anticipate being most widespread and harmful in the coming year. This knowledge is based in how flu strains have evolved over time and over the past few flu seasons. Scientists then work to create the most effective vaccine to combat those selected strains. Hundreds of millions of doses are produced in a short period in order to provide vaccinations to key populations at the optimal time.

    Because viruses, like the flu, evolve very quickly (especially in evolutionary time), this poses quite a challenge. Viruses mutate and replicate at a fast rate, so the vaccine developed to protect against last year’s flu strain may not provide the protection needed against the coming year’s strain. Evolution of these viruses means continued adaptions to ensure survival, including adaptations to survive previous vaccines.

    Population Genetics

    Recall that a gene for a particular character may have several alleles, or variants, that code for different traits associated with that character. For example, in the ABO blood type system in humans, three alleles determine the particular blood-type protein on the surface of red blood cells. Each individual in a population of diploid organisms (organisms that reproduce sexually and have paired chromosomes, unlike haploid organisms that reproduce asexually and have a single set of chromosomes) can only carry two alleles for a particular gene, but more than two may be present in the individuals that make up the population. Mendel followed alleles as they were inherited from parent to offspring. In the early twentieth century, biologists in a field of study known as population genetics began to study how selective forces change a population through changes in allele and genotypic frequencies.

    The allele frequency (or gene frequency) is the rate at which a specific allele appears within a population. Until now, we have discussed evolution as a change in the characteristics of a population of organisms, but behind that phenotypic change is genetic change. In population genetics, the term evolution is defined as a change in the frequency of an allele in a population. Using the ABO blood type system as an example, the frequency of one of the alleles, A, is the number of copies of that allele divided by all the copies of the ABO gene in the population. For example, a study by Sahar et al. (2007) found a frequency of A to be 26.1 percent. The B and 0 alleles made up 13.4 percent and 60.5 percent of the alleles respectively, and all of the frequencies added up to 100 percent. A change in this frequency over time would constitute evolution in the population.

    The allele frequency within a given population can change depending on environmental factors; therefore, certain alleles become more widespread than others during the process of natural selection. Natural selection can alter the population’s genetic makeup; for example, if a given allele confers a phenotype that allows an individual to better survive or have more offspring. Because many of those offspring will also carry the beneficial allele, and often the corresponding phenotype, they will have more offspring of their own that also carry the allele, thus, perpetuating the cycle. Over time, the allele will spread throughout the population. Some alleles will quickly become fixed in this way, meaning that every individual of the population will carry the allele, while detrimental mutations may be swiftly eliminated if derived from a dominant allele from the gene pool. The gene pool is the sum of all the alleles in a population.

    Sometimes, allele frequencies within a population change randomly with no advantage to the population over existing allele frequencies. This phenomenon is called genetic drift. Natural selection and genetic drift usually occur simultaneously in populations and are not isolated events. It is hard to determine which process dominates because it is often nearly impossible to determine the cause of change in allele frequencies at each occurrence. An event that initiates an allele frequency change in an isolated part of the population, which is not typical of the original population, is called the founder effect. Natural selection, random genetic drift, and founder effects can lead to significant changes in the genome of a population.

    Hardy-Weinberg Principle of Equilibrium

    In the early twentieth century, English mathematician Godfrey Hardy and German physician Wilhelm Weinberg stated the principle of equilibrium to describe the genetic makeup of a population. The theory, which later became known as the Hardy-Weinberg principle of equilibrium, states that a population’s allele and genotype frequencies are inherently stable—neither the allele nor the genotypic frequencies would change, unless some kind of evolutionary force is acting upon the population. The Hardy-Weinberg principle assumes conditions with no mutations, migration, emigration, or selective pressure for or against any genotype, plus an infinite population; while no population can satisfy those conditions, the principle offers a useful model against which to compare real population changes.

    In theory, if a population is at equilibrium—that is, there are no evolutionary forces acting upon it—generation after generation would have the same gene pool and genetic structure, and the equilibrium equations of Hardy-Weinberg would all hold true all of the time. Of course, even Hardy and Weinberg recognized that no natural population is immune to evolution. Populations in nature are constantly changing in genetic makeup due to drift, mutation, possibly migration, natural selection, and in social species, kin selection. As a result, the only way to determine the exact distribution of phenotypes in a population is to go out and count them. But the Hardy-Weinberg principle gives scientists a mathematical baseline of a non-evolving population to which they can compare evolving populations and thereby infer what evolutionary forces might be at play. If the frequencies of alleles or genotypes deviate from the value expected from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation, then the population is evolving.

    Additional Concepts in Evolutionary Science

    Species

    Although all life on earth shares various genetic similarities, only certain organisms combine genetic information by sexual reproduction and have offspring that can then successfully reproduce. Scientists call such organisms members of the same biological species.

    A species is a group of individual organisms that interbreed and produce fertile, viable offspring. According to this definition, one species is distinguished from another when, in nature, it is not possible for matings between individuals from each species to produce fertile offspring. The biological definition of species, which works for sexually reproducing organisms, is a group of actually or potentially interbreeding individuals.

    Members of the same species share both external and internal characteristics, which develop from their DNA. The closer relationship two organisms share, the more DNA they have in common, just like people and their families. Organisms of the same species have the highest level of DNA alignment and therefore share characteristics and behaviors that lead to successful reproduction.

    Populations of species share a gene pool: a collection of all the variants of genes in the species. Remember that any evolutionary changes in a population of organisms must be genetic because genes are the only way to share and pass on heritable traits. Only heritable traits can evolve. Therefore, reproduction plays a paramount role for genetic change to take root in a population or species. Differential rates of reproduction among the genetic variants in a population drive evolutionary change.

    Speciation

    Given the extraordinary diversity of life on the planet, there must be mechanisms for speciation: the formation of two species from one original species. Darwin envisioned this process as a branching event.

    Biologists think of speciation events as the splitting of one ancestral species into two descendant species.

    For speciation to occur, two new populations must be formed from one original population and they must evolve in such a way that it becomes impossible for individuals from the two new populations to interbreed. Biologists have proposed mechanisms by which this could occur that fall into two broad categories. Allopatric speciation (allo- = "other"; -patric = "homeland") involves geographic separation of populations from a parent species and subsequent evolution. Sympatric speciation (sym- = "same"; -patric = "homeland") involves speciation occurring within a parent species remaining in one location. Isolation of populations leading to allopatric speciation can occur in a variety of ways: a river forming a new branch, erosion forming a new valley, a group of organisms traveling to a new location without the ability to return, or seeds floating over the ocean to an island. Additionally, scientists have found that the further the distance between two groups that once were the same species, the more likely it is that speciation will occur.

    In some cases, a population of one species disperses throughout an area, and each finds a distinct niche or isolated habitat. Over time, the varied demands of their new lifestyles lead to multiple speciation events originating from a single species. This is called adaptive radiation because many adaptations evolve from a single point of origin; thus, causing the species to radiate into several new ones. Island archipelagos like the Hawaiian Islands provide an ideal context for adaptive radiation events because water surrounds each island which leads to geographical isolation for many organisms.

    Rates of Speciation

    Speciation occurs over a span of evolutionary time, so when a new species arises, there is a transition period during which the closely related species continue to interact.

    In terms of how quickly speciation occurs, two patterns are currently observed: gradual speciation model and punctuated equilibrium model.

    In the gradual speciation model, species diverge gradually over time in small steps. In the punctuated equilibrium model, a new species undergoes changes quickly from the parent species, and then remains largely unchanged for long periods of time afterward (Figure 18.3.218.3.2). This early change model is called punctuated equilibrium, because it begins with a punctuated or periodic change and then remains in balance afterward. While punctuated equilibrium suggests a faster tempo, it does not necessarily exclude gradualism.

     In the gradual speciation example, a founder species of bird diverges into one species with a hooked beak, and another with strait beak. Over time, the hooked beak gets longer and thinner, and the straight beak gets shorter and fatter. In the punctuated equilibrium example, as in the graduated speciation example, the founder species diverges into one species with a hooked break and another with a straight beak. However, in this case the hooked and straight beaks gives rise immediately to long, thin and short, fat beaks.
    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): In (a) gradual speciation, species diverge at a slow, steady pace as traits change incrementally. In (b) punctuated equilibrium, species diverge quickly and then remain unchanged for long periods of time.

    The primary influencing factor on changes in speciation rate is environmental conditions. Under some conditions, selection occurs quickly or radically. Consider a species of snails that had been living with the same basic form for many thousands of years. Layers of their fossils would appear similar for a long time. When a change in the environment takes place—such as a drop in the water level—a small number of organisms are separated from the rest in a brief period of time, essentially forming one large and one tiny population. The tiny population faces new environmental conditions. Because its gene pool quickly became so small, any variation that surfaces and that aids in surviving the new conditions becomes the predominant form.

    Which of the following statements is false? (Answer at end of this module).

    1. Punctuated equilibrium is most likely to occur in a small population that experiences a rapid change in its environment.
    2. Punctuated equilibrium is most likely to occur in a large population that lives in a stable climate.
    3. Gradual speciation is most likely to occur in species that live in a stable climate.
    4. Gradual speciation and punctuated equilibrium both result in the divergence of species.

    Summary

    The modern synthesis of evolutionary theory grew out of the combination of Darwin’s and Wallace’s formulations of evolution with Mendel’s analysis of heredity, along with the more modern study of population genetics. The modern synthesis describes the evolution of populations and species, from small-scale changes among individuals to large-scale changes over paleontological time periods. To understand how organisms evolve, scientists can track populations’ allele frequencies over time. If they differ from generation to generation, scientists can conclude that the population is not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and is thus evolving.  

    Speciation is not a precise division: overlap between closely related species can occur in areas called hybrid zones. Organisms reproduce with other similar organisms. The fitness of these hybrid offspring can affect the evolutionary path of the two species. Scientists propose two models for the rate of speciation: one model illustrates how a species can change slowly over time; the other model demonstrates how change can occur quickly from a parent generation to a new species. Both models continue to follow the patterns of natural selection.

    (Answer to review question above: 2 is false. "Punctuated equilibrium is most likely to occur in a large population that lives in a stable climate").

    Art Connections

    [link] In plants, violet flower color (V) is dominant over white (v). If p=.8 and q = 0.2 in a population of 500 plants, how many individuals would you expect to be homozygous dominant (VV), heterozygous (Vv), and homozygous recessive (vv)? How many plants would you expect to have violet flowers, and how many would have white flowers?

     

    References

    Sahar S. Hanania, Dhia S. Hassawi, and Nidal M. Irshaid, “Allele Frequency and Molecular Genotypes of ABO Blood Group System in a Jordanian Population,” Journal of Medical Sciences 7 (2007): 51-58, doi:10.3923/jms.2007.51.58.

    Glossary

    allele frequency
    founder effect
    gene pool
    genetic structure
    macroevolution
    microevolution
    modern synthesis
    population genetics

    Attributions

    Adapted by Kenneth A. Koenigshofer, Ph.D., from The Evolution of Populations by OpenStax, licensed CC BY 4.0.