Title: D4.

1: Natural selection Date: 04/11/2023

LI: To be able to explain what causes changes in allele frequencies.

Starter task:

Using Darwin's theory of evolution by

natural selection, explain how horses
developed fewer toes.

Pages 741-756

Keywords: Natural selection, fitness, selection pressures

 Useful website
https://www.biologyforlife.com/naturalselection.html
 Darwin´s theory of evolution by natural selection

One of theories to explain how organisms change over time was

developed by Charles Darwin.
He realised that species change over time as evidenced by fossils.
Darwin’s observations in the Galapagos Islands as well as his
own experiments on selective breeding paved the way for the
theory of natural selection.
Summary of natural selection
 Variation
The first step in evolution by
natural selection is variation.

Q. What causes the variation?

 Variation
The first step in evolution by
natural selection is variation.

A.
Mutations
Meiosis
Sexual reproduction
 Variation: Mutation
Many change to the DNA
sequence is classified as a
mutation. It can range from a
single base change to removal of
one segment of a chromosome.

The mutations are random and

can be beneficial, neutral or
harmful
 Variation: Meiosis
Produces gametes with unique
combinations of alleles, thus
increasing the genetic variation
of individuals within the
species.

Remember meiosis produces

four genetically dissimilar sex
cells (gametes)
 Variation: Sexual reproduction
The combination of gametes is random and results in a
zygote that has genes from both of its parents.
 Variation: What about organisms that reproduce
asexually?
Most prokaryotes and some eukaryotes
reproduce only asexually. Some fungi
can reproduce both sexually and
asexually, as can certain plants and
animals.

The only way asexual species can

increase variation is through mutation,
however, mutations can also cause
change in sexually reproducing
organisms.
 Selection pressures
A consequence of the overproduction of
offspring is that not all of the offspring
will survive.
This creates selection pressures, such
food scarcity or space, therefore, only the
best adapted will survive.
Those individuals that survive long
enough to reproduce will contribute to
the next generation.
Abiotic factors as selection pressures

Selection pressures are factors that lead to differential survival or

reproduction, which in turn cause a change in the genetic
composition of a population. These include:
 Density dependent factors: factors that affect the size of the
population and depend on the density of the population in a
given area
 Density independent factors: factors that affect the size of the
population, irrespective of the population density.
Density dependent factors
Density independent factors
 Adaptation and offspring
Adaptations may not only be physical features, they may be:
• Internal structures
• Changes in biochemistry
• Behavioural changes e.g. ones that could help the organism
escape a predator.
 Adaptation and frequency of
characteristics
Characteristics are favoured that make a
species better adapted to its environment,
and if that environment changes, those with
genes that confer characteristics that are well
adapted to the new environment will survive
and pass on these genes to their offspring.

Example refer back to the example of the

peppered moth.
 Adaptation and frequency of
characteristics
This process is extremely slow. The time it takes for changes to
be seen is highly dependent on the time it takes an organism to
form a new generation.

For example in mice, they can form a new generation in 3-6

months. So changes could be seen in a couple hundred years.
However, elephants have a generation time of 60-70 years, so
it could take 10´s of thousands of years to see changes.
 Summary of Darwin´s theory of natural selection
• Overproduction: there is a tendency to produce more offspring than can be
supported by the environment, leads to competition for natural resources.
• Variation: Individuals within a population are not identical.
• Survival: Individuals with variations that help them adapt better to the
environment are more likely to survive
• Reproduction: Those that survive, reproduce and pass on beneficial
genetics.
• Population change: Eventually, in a particular environment, individuals
with the more favourable variations will form a larger proportion of the
population.
 Biological fitness
Biological fitness is the ability of an organism to reproduce
and pass on its genetic material to its offspring.

Although the white tiger has

similar strength to other
tigers, why is it less likely to
survive?
 Biological fitness
Biological fitness is the ability of an organism to reproduce
and pass on its genetic material to its offspring.

Answer:
Due to its inability to
camouflage it will be less
able to hunt prey.
 The concept of biological fitness
Biological fitness is relative and is determined by the following factors:
 The environment in which the individual (genotype) lives.
 The fitness of individuals varies as the environmental conditions
change.
 The survival value of an individual: refers to traits that enable
individuals to survive and reach reproductive age
 The reproductive potential of an individual: capacity of an individual
to produce offspring e.g. attracting mates, viable gametes and parental
care.
Low and high fitness
Intraspecific competition and natural selection
When individuals of the same species compete with each other
for resources such as food, water, space, sunlight or mates, it is
known as intraspecific competition.

Task: would this be considered density dependent or

independent?
Intraspecific competition and natural selection
When individuals of the same species compete with each other
for resources such as food, water, space, sunlight or mates, it is
known as intraspecific competition.

Answer: Density dependent

Intraspecific competition and natural selection
As the population size increases and reaches the carrying capacity of
the environment, the competition for resources intensifies. Individuals
with higher fitness have a greater chance of acquiring resources and
reproducing than individuals with lower fitness. This leads to:
 Decrease in growth rate
 Traits which provide higher biological fitness will be passed on
and become more prevalent in a population.
Thus intraspecific competition leads to evolution by natural selection
 Sexual selection: form of natural selection
Sexual selection is a special case of natural selection, where the
focus is on finding a mate and reproducing.
 Endler’s experiments
In the 1970s, biologist John Endler began
studying guppies living in the streams of
Trinidad.
 Some of the guppies were brightly coloured
with spots while others were dull and drab.
 Parts of the stream where there were
numerous predators, the guppies were drab
and dull.
 Parts of the stream where there were fewer
predators, the guppies were brightly
coloured.
 Endler’s experiments: Part 1
1. Built an artificial pond with guppies and estimated the number
of spots on each fish.
2. Guppies were left to breed and after 6 months there was a
mean increase in spots on the offspring.
3. Suggesting the females preferred the more spotted males.
 Endler’s experiments: Part 2
1. The population was then divided into 3 groups (A, B & C)
• In pond A, he did not add any other fish.
• In pond B, he added Rivulus, a genus of fish that feeds sporadically on juvenile guppies
and is probably the least dangerous of all guppy predators.
• In pond C, he added pike cichlids, a type of fish that are voracious predators of guppies.
2. The guppies were again left for 20 months.
3. Found that in ponds A and B the mean number of spots had increased, while in pond C
the mean number of spots had decreased.

Conclusion: Pond A & B had evolved into one of brightly coloured males. Pond C
natural selection favoured individuals with drab colours
Gene pool
 Gene pool
 A population is defined as a group of interbreeding organisms
belonging to the same species living in a given area.
 The gene pool is the sum total of all the alleles of all the genes present
in a population.

A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic variation. This in turn

indicates a greater ability of the population to adjust and adapt to changes
in the environment.
Small gene pools can have severe consequences especially in
agriculture. Making populations very vulnerable.
 Allele frequency (Genetic drift)
The allele frequency is the relative frequency of a particular allele (in
comparison to the other alleles of the same gene) in a population. Its value
can range from 0 (meaning that it is not present in any individuals) to 1
(meaning that it is present in all individuals) and can be expressed as a
decimal, fraction or percentage.

Keep in mind that there could be more than two alleles for a gene, like
in the case of human blood groups.
 Allele frequency in geographically
isolated populations
The frequency of alleles in the gene pool can change due to both
natural selection and chance or random events. Genetic drift is the
change in allele frequencies in the gene pool of a population due
to chance events. The impact of genetic drift is greater if the
populations are small and/or geographically isolated from each other.

There are two main mechanisms for genetic drift:

• Bottleneck effect
• Founders effect
 Bottleneck effect
Genetic bottleneck = A catastrophic
event causing the population to drop.
The population recovers but from a
small number of individuals

• E.g. Northern Elephant Seals,

hunted to roughly 20 individuals in
1890s, population now 30,000
 Bottleneck effect: Impacts
How do you think genetic drift affected the genetic biodiversity
compared to the Southern Elephant Seals that weren’t hunted?​

• Genetic bottlenecks reduce the gene pool (frequency of alleles)

• Genetic drift will have more of an impact as the population size
is reduced
• Variation is reduced, making subsequent populations more
vulnerable.
 Genetic bottleneck summary - when a
population shrinks and then recovers
Original population

Large numbers of the population die

Reduced population – some alleles are lost from the original population

Reproduction

New population- genetic diversity is greatly reduced.

 Founders effect
Founder effect is a extreme case of genetic drift
Founder effect = A few organisms start a new
isolated population, with only a small number of
different alleles in the gene pool.

E.g. Amish population migrated from Germany

to the US, 200 individuals which didn’t mate
out of their population. They have an usually
high rate of genetic disease including Ellis-van
Creveld syndrome
Summary of bottleneck and founders effect
Exam Q
 Types of natural selection
Sexual selection:
– Increase in alleles that promote mating success

Natural selection:
– Increase in alleles that promote survival success
• Stabilising selection
• Directional selection
• Disruptive selection
Stabilising selection

This usually occurs when

the environment remains
relatively stable for a long
period of time.

Therefore, the most

beneficial phenotype (and
the corresponding alleles)
do not change.
Directional selection
This usually occurs when the
environment changes.
For example is the environment
becomes warmer, those organisms
with a larger surface area are more
likely to survive.

Therefore the allele frequency for the

allele that gives organisms a larger
surface area will become greater.
Disruptive selection

This usually occurs when two

extremes are beneficial in
different ways

Therefore the allele frequency

for both extremes increase and
the moderate trait value
decreases.
Exam Q
 Fast recall questions
1. Define the term gene pool
The complete range of alleles in a population
2. Define the term allele frequency
How often an allele appears in a population
3. How are allele frequency and evolution related?
Evolution is the change in the frequency of an allele in a population over
time
4. Explain why variation is needed for evolution to take place
Individuals vary, some are better adapted to selection pressures than
others. Survive, reproduce and pass on alleles
5. Explain why the founder effect can lead to an increased incidence of genetic
disease.
Allele frequency is higher than in original population. If one of these
alleles represents a genetic disorder this would mean that it has an
increased incidence in the population.
 Hardy–Weinberg equation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEBNom3K9cQ
Ideally, dominant alleles should drive out recessive alleles over time. Yet scientists
observed that both dominant and recessive alleles continue to persist in populations.

The Hardy–Weinberg principle states that in a stable population, the frequency of the
alleles would remain constant generation after generation, provided certain conditions
are met.

  
   
 Hardy–Weinberg equation
• Consider a population whose gene pool contains the alleles A
and a.
• Hardy and Weinberg assigned the letter p to the frequency of
the dominant allele A and the letter q to the frequency of the
recessive allele a.
• Since the sum of all the alleles must equal 100%, then p + q =
1.
  
   
Now consider two heterozygous individuals
bred, what would be the possible genotypes

Possible genotypes are :

A a 1 x AA
2 x Aa
1 x aa
A AA Aa
Or..

PP  P2
a Aa aa
2x pq  2pq
Qq  q2
 Hardy-Weinberg Principle formula
They then reasoned that all the random possible combinations of
the members of a population would equal p2+ 2pq + q2 (and
would also equal 1).

p2+ 2pq + q2
 They then reasoned that all the random possible combinations of the
members of a population would equal p2+ 2pq + q2 (and would also
equal 1).
 The frequencies of A and a will remain unchanged generation after
generation if the following conditions are met:

1. Large population. The population must be large to minimize random

sampling errors.
2. Random mating. There is no mating preference. For example an AA male
does not prefer an aa female.
3. No mutation. The alleles must not change.
4. No migration. Exchange of genes between the population and another
population must not occur.
5. No natural selection. Natural selection must not favor any particular
individual.
 They then reasoned that all the random possible combinations of
the members of a population would equal p2+ 2pq + q2 (and would
also equal 1).
 The frequencies of A and a will remain unchanged generation after
generation if the following conditions are met:

1. Large population. The population must be large to minimize random

sampling errors.
2. Random mating. There is no mating preference. For example an AA
male does not prefer an aa female.
3. No mutation. The alleles must not change.
4. No migration. Exchange of genes between the population and another
population must not occur.
5. No natural selection. Natural selection must not favor any particular
individual. Common exam Q alert!
e.g. “under what conditions will Hardy-
Weinberg not be applicable”
 How to work out genotype frequency using Hardy-
Weinberg
They will ALWAYS tell you
1) Identify q or q2 from the question this
The recessive phenotype is
2) Use p + q = 1 to find p easiest to see

3) Substitute p and q into p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1 to find the genotype the question

asks for
 Worked example
 In a given population brown eyes is dominant to blue eyes.
 23% of the population has blue eyes
 What percentage of the population has the homozygous
dominant genotype and what percentage has the heterozygous
genotype?
 1) Identify q or q from the question
2

 Recessive phenotype = blue eyes

 blue eyes = 23%
 = 0.23
 q2 = 0.23
 q = square root of 0.23
 q = 0.48
 2) Use p + q = 1 to find p
 q = 0.48
 p+q=1
 p + 0.48 = 1
 p = 1 – 0.48
 p = 0.52
 Substitute p and q into p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1 to find the
genotype the question asks for
 Homozygous dominant
 p2
 p = 0.52
 p2 = 0.27 = 27%

 Heterozygous
 2pq
 p = 0.52
 q = 0.48
 2pq = 2 x 0.52 x 0.48
 2pq = 0.5 = 50%
 Using the calculation
1 in 25000 people display a recessive characteristic. Calculate the
frequency of the dominant allele. ( use a and A)

Recessive must have aa

q2 = 1/25000 or 0.00004

q = √0.00004 or 0.0063

p + q = 1.0 ( to work out p 1.0 – q)

1.0 – 0.00063 = 0.9937 (this is the frequency of allele A)

Ext. How many people are carriers?
 Ext. How many people are carriers?

From HWP we know that the frequency of heterozygotes is ‘2pq’

2 x 0.9937 x 0.00063 = 0.0125
125/10000 are heterozygous
This is 313 in 25000
 Question 1
If 98 out of 200 individuals in a population express the recessive
phenotype, what percent of the population would you predict
would be heterozygotes?
 Answer 1
 98/200 = (q2)
 0.49 = q2
 0.7 = q

 p+q=1
 p = 1 – 0.7
 p = 0.3

 2pq = 2(0.3)(0.7) = 0.42 = 42% heterozygotes

 Question 2
Your original population of 200 in Q1 was hit by a tidal wave and
100 organisms were wiped out, leaving 36 homozygous recessive
out of the 100 survivors. If we assume that all individuals were
equally likely to be wiped out, how did the tidal wave affect the
predicted frequencies of the alleles in the population?

Calculate the predicted heterozygous population and

homozygous dominant
 Answer 2
• 36/100 = q2
• 0.6 = q

• p+q=1
• p = 0.4

• Heterozygous = 2 (0.4)(0.6) = 0.48 = 48%

• Homozygous dominant = (0.4)(0.4) = 0.16 = 16%
 Question 3
Lets say that brown fur coloring is dominant to grey fur colour in
mice. If you have 168 brown mice in a population of 200
mice........
What is the predicted frequency of
– Homozygous dominants
– Heterozygotes
– Homozygous recessives
 Answer 3
• 200 mice in total
• 168 = brown = p2 + 2pq
• 32/200 = grey fur = q2
• 0.16 = q2
• 0.4 = q
• p = 0.6 (p + q = 1)

• p2 = 0.36 = 36%
• 2pq = 0.48 = 48%
• q2 = 0.16 = 16%
 Selective/artifical breeding
Selective breeding is also referred to as
artificial selection. Unlike natural selection, Natural selection:
occurs when populations
Humans select the animal or plant with the have genetic variations.
Some variations are an
best characteristics and try, through genetic advantage over others to
crosses, to create a breed or plant line that the population in
its particular
retains these desired characteristics. environment. Those with
the variation, survive,
reproduce and pass on
the beneficial
characteristic to their
offspring.
 Case study of selective breeding: Dogs
You are expected to
understand how
selective breeding
of domesticated
animals shows how
artificial selection can
cause evolution.
 Other examples of Selective breeding
Some examples of selective breeding are:
• Breeding egg-laying hens to lay lots of eggs
• Breeding race horses for speed
• Breeding dogs for herding, hunting or simply for specific physical
features
• Breeding cattle for increased meat or milk production
• Breeding of crops to be disease- or cold-weather-resistant in order to
increase production
• Breeding of plants to produce larger and sweeter fruits.