10.

3 Gene pools and speciation

Gene pool

A gene pool consists of all the genes and their different alleles, present in an interbreeding population.

Evolution requires that allele frequencies change with time in populations

Changes to allele frequency within a gene pool (evolution) can result from five key processes:

1. Mutation: A random change in the genetic composition of an organism due to changes in the
DNA base sequence.

2. Gene flow: The movement of alleles into, or out of, a population as a result of immigration or
emigration.

3. Sexual reproduction and mate selection: introduce new gene combinations and alter allele
frequencies if mating is assortative

4. Genetic drift: The change in the composition of a gene pool as a result of a chance or random
event

5. Natural selection: The change in the composition of a gene pool as a result of differentially
selective environmental pressures

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Skill: Comparison of allele frequencies of geographically isolated populations

Reproductive isolation of populations can be temporal, behavioural or geographic

Reproductive isolation occurs when barriers prevent two populations from interbreeding – keeping their
gene pools separate.

There are two main categories of reproductive isolation barriers:

 Prezygotic isolation – occurs before fertilisation can occur (no offspring are produced)
can be temporal, behavioural, geographic / ecological or mechanical

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  Postzygotic isolation – occurs after fertilisation (offspring are either not viable or infertile)
include the inviability, infertility or breakdown of hybrid organisms

Prezygotic reproductive isolation

Temporal Isolation Behavioural Isolation Geographic Isolation
occurs when two populations occurs when two populations occurs when two populations
differ in the time of mating exhibit different specific occupy different habitats or
activity or reproductive cycles courtship patterns including separate niches within a
calls, body language,, dances, common region
songs, etc.
Example: Leopard frogs and Example: Certain populations of Example: Lions and tigers
wood frogs reach sexual crickets may be morphologically occupy different habitats and do
maturity at different times in the identical but only respond to not interbreed (usually)
spring and hence cannot specific mating songs
interbreed

Application: Identifying examples of directional, stabilizing and disruptive selection

Natural selection is the change in the composition of a gene pool in response to a differentially selective
environmental pressure.

The frequency of one particular phenotype in relation to another will be a product of the type of
selection that is occurring. Selection could be directional, stabilizing and disruptive.

 Adaptive phenotype is shifted in one direction (towards the beneficial extreme)

Directional
 Associated with gradual changes in environmental conditions
selection
 Directional selection will typically be followed by stabilising selection once an

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 optimal phenotype has been normalised

Examples:

- the development of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations

- Darwin’s finches in the Galaagos islands.

 Where an intermediate phenotype is favoured at the expense of both phenotypic

extremes.
 This results in the removal of extreme phenotypes (phenotypic distribution
becomes centrally clustered to reflect homogeneity)
Stabilizing  Operates when environmental conditions are stable and competition is low
selection
Examples:

human birth weights (too large = birthing complications ; too small = risk of infant
mortality)
Where both phenotypic extremes are favoured at the expense of the intermediate
phenotypic ranges

This causes the phenotypic distribution to deviate from the centre and results in a
bimodal spread

This occurs when fluctuating environmental conditions (e.g. seasons) favour the
Disruptive presence of two different phenotypes
selection
Continued separation of phenotypic variants may eventually split the population into
two distinct sub-populations (speciation)

Example:

the proliferation of black or white moths in regions of sharply contrasting colour

extremes

Speciation

Speciation: the evolutionary process by which two related populations diverge into separate species.

Rate of speciation:

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Speciation due to divergence of isolated populations can be gradual (Gradualism)

Populations of a species can gradually diverge into separate species by evolution.

It occurs when reproductive isolating mechanisms prevent two breeding organisms from producing
fertile, viable offspring

There are two basic mechanisms via which speciation can occur:

Allopatric Speciation (geographical isolation)

 occurs when a geographical barrier physically isolates populations of an ancestral species

 The two populations begin to evolve separately as a result of cumulative mutation, genetic drift
and natural selection
 Eventually the two populations reach a degree of genetic divergence whereby they can no
longer interbreed (speciation)

Sympatric Speciation (reproductive isolation)

 divergence of species within the same geographical location (i.e. without a physical barrier)
 it may result from the reproductive isolation of two populations as a result of genetic
abnormalities

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  Typically, a chromosomal error may arise which prevents successful reproduction with any
organism lacking the same error

Speciation can occur abruptly (Punctuated equilibrium)

Punctuated equilibrium implies long periods without appreciable change and short periods of rapid
evolution.

 Long periods of stability are interrupted by ‘rapid’ evolutionary changes.

 During periods of stability well-suited organisms have no reason to evolve until large
environmental changes (e.g. meteor strikes) cause selection pressures to shift.
 Gaps in the fossil record show mass extinction events

*Punctuated equilibrium was first proposed by palaeontologists Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould in

1972. They were the first to suggest that species did not change for long periods of time but were in
stasis until events punctuated (disrupted) the equilibrium (balance).

Polyploidy

Sympatric speciation is most commonly caused as the result of a meiotic failure during gamete
formation

 If meiotic cells fail to undergo cytokinesis, chromosomal number will double in the gamete (e.g.
diploid instead of haploid). Total non-disjunction, is when one of the two cells produced during
Meiosis I gets all of the chromosomes. The other cell is not viable and is reabsorbed.
 This will result in offspring that have additional sets of chromosomes (polyploidy); this results in
two (2n) daughter cells from meiosis instead of the usual four (n) daughter cells.
 Speciation will result if the polyploid offspring are viable and fertile but cannot interbreed with
the original parent population

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Polyploidy is much more common in plant species - they lack separate sexes and are capable of asexual
reproduction (self-pollination)

Tetraploid offspring cannot mate with diploid organisms (triploid offspring tend to be infertile),
speciation has occurred

 polyploidy is a great source of speciation amongst plants.

 Polyploidy often leads to increased size, resistance to disease and overall vigour.
 Many agricultural plants are polyploid (e.g. wheat) due to having bigger fruits, seeds and storage
organs

Application: Speciation in the genus Allium by polyploidy

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