General Biology 2

GENETIC MECHANISM OF ➢ Phenotype

POPULATION CHANGE
Population Genetics
− A field of science that deals with genetic
variation in the populations of organisms in the
ecosystem.
− It deals with the examination and modeling of
− Are physical expression of a trait.
− Phenotype determines the genotype
combined with the effects of environmental
factors.
− Are the observable traits expressed in an
individual. A gene contains all the needed
information that codes for a specific protein
required in controlling the expression of
different phenotypes in an organism.

the spatial and temporal variation in frequencies

in frequencies of genes and alleles in
populations.

GENES, GENOTYPE, AND ALLELES

➢ Genes – are segments of DNA that regulate the
expression of the traits of an organism through
the identity and arrangement of the nucleotides.
➢ Allele
− Are different versions of a gene.
FACTORS AFFECTING GENETIC STRUCTURE OF
− Control similar traits but exhibits different
POPULATION
phenotypes.
➢ Mutation
− Refers to the variant form of a given gene.
− Can cause changes in the DNA structure of
the organisms.
− Mutations happen at the DNA level and can
alter a certain gene leading to the formation
of allele variants.

➢ Genotype
− Are pairs of genes responsible for a
particular trait.
− Are sets of genes that regulate the
expression of certain traits in the organism.
 General Biology 2
Types of Mutations:
• Advantageous Mutations – increase
the fitness of organisms.
• Deleterious Mutations
− Decrease the fitness of organisms.
− Have a low chance of being passed
on since the organisms may not
survive long enough to reproduce in
the first place.
• Neutral Mutations – do not impact
fitness.
➢ Genetic Drift
− Refers to the changes in allele frequencies
resulting from random chance as a product
of random events in the environment.
− This can possibly lead to changes in the
allele frequencies and can even lead to the
disappearance of some of these alleles.
− Genetic drift leads to random changes. This
means that even traits that come from
beneficial alleles can disappear from a
population.
Types of Genetic Drift:
• Founder Effect
− Refers to the loss of genetic variation in the
new population that was established by a
very few individuals from a larger
population.
− Effect of the founding population on the
genetic structure of the future population;
migration.
− For some extreme situations, the founder
effect can lead to speciation and the
emergence of new species.
Example of founder effect: Small number of
founding populations that went into the island.
• Bottleneck Effect
− Changes in the genetic structure of the
population due to population bottleneck;
survival.
− Refers to an event where there is an abrupt
reduction in the size of a population caused
by random environmental events.
 General Biology 2
Example of bottleneck effect: Random volcanic
eruption on the island that killed most of the members
of the population.
➢ Recombination
− Crossing over during meiosis.
− Refers to the process where pieces of DNA
are segmented and recombined to produce
new combinations of alleles.
− Recombination happens in different events
in the life of an organism. One of the
recombination processes occurs during
meiosis.
− Meiosis involves the recombination of
genetic materials.
− Meiosis I result in 2 daughter cells. On the
other hand, meiosis II involves 2 daughter
cells producing another 2 daughter cells
which then results in a total of 4 cells.
− Recombination is important in creating
genetic diversity at the level of genes as
reflected by the differences in the DNA
sequences of various organisms.
Recombination:
Warm Up
1. Example of founder effect.
• Small number of founding populations that went
into the island.
2. Example of bottleneck effect.
• Random volcanic eruption on the island that
killed most of the members of the population.
3. Given the two mechanisms, how do you think
genetic drift operates in changing the population?
• It operates randomly through an alteration of the
number of individuals in the population.
4. Do you think genetic drift can cause major
changes in the characteristics of the entire
population?
• Yes, this is since it can alter the entire
population size and its genetic structure.
Knowledge Check Question
1. How does recombination help in increasing
genetic diversity in the population?
• It allows a series of mixing in the genetic pool of
individuals in the population.
• This mixing allows new gene combinations to
arise, which directly leads to an increase in the
population’s genetic diversity.
 General Biology 2
Check Your Understanding
A. Identify if the statements are true or false.
True 1. Meiosis I results in 2 daughter cells. On the
other hand, meiosis II involves 2 daughter cells
producing another 2 daughter cells which then results
in a total of 4 cells.
True 2. Meiosis involves the recombination of genetic
materials.
True 3. An allele controls similar traits but exhibits
different phenotypes.
True 4. Genetic drift refers to changes in allele
frequencies resulting from random chance. This can
possibly lead to changes in the allele frequencies and
can even lead to the disappearance of some of these
alleles.
True 5. Genetic drift leads to random changes. This
means that even traits that come from beneficial alleles
can disappear from a population.
B. Classify if the given scenario is an example of the
effect of the mutation, genetic drift, or recombination.
Recombination 1. new characteristics emerged after
a population migrated into an area and reproduced with
the local population.
Genetic drift 2. low genetic diversity in an island
population.
Recombination 3. variation among siblings from the
same parents.
Recombination 4. variation among cousins from the
same grandparents.
Recombination 5. high genetic diversity in population
with random mating.
Genetic drift 6. low genetic diversity in population
with small population size.
Mutation 7. the appearance of rare genetic
diseases.
Mutation 8. large populations with morphological
abnormalities.
Genetic drift 9. low genetic diversity of populations
of organisms in the zoo.
Genetic drift 10. low genetic diversity among the
family that practice incest mating.
Challenge Yourself
1. Do you think humans can control the effect of
genetic drift?
• No. This is because genetic drift is mostly driven
by chance.
2. What could be the consequences of low genetic
diversity in the population?
• It affects the overall fitness of individuals for
survival.
• The occurrence of environmental events, for
example, can subject the population to new
conditions.
• With low genetic diversity, if no individuals in the
population have the beneficial traits to survive,
then the entire population will be wiped out.
3. Do you think it is a good thing that the
recombination process occurs in the human
population? Why?
• Yes, recombination allows high genetic
variation that can be beneficial for the
evolutionary path of the human race.
4. Do you agree that some mutations are good for
the organisms? Explain your answer.
• Yes, the non-deleterious mutations are not bad
for the organisms.
• Some mutations are advantageous, and these
can be fixed in the population for adaptation.
 General Biology 2

• There are also some mutations that do not

provide advantages or disadvantages, like
neutral mutations.
5. Do you think artificial selection can regulate the
effects of the factors discussed in this lesson?
• It can regulate the effect of recombination but
not mutation and genetic drift.
• The latter two are mainly random and only
happen by chance.

REPRODUCTIVE
MECHANISMS OF What is the role of sexual reproduction in changing the

SPECIATION structure of the population?

Reproduction – is one of the important characteristics

of all living things. In this process, living organisms
create new individuals that carry genetic materials from
their parents.

Types of Reproduction:
➢ Sexual Reproduction – a form of reproduction
What is reproductive isolation? How can it affect the
wherein sex cells combine from both parents to
population?
create an offspring.
➢ Asexual Reproduction – produces offspring
Reproductive Isolation
from a single organism. It does not require the
− Refers to the collection of evolutionary,
presence of sex cells.
behavioral, and physiological mechanisms that
drive speciation of an organism.
− Reproductive isolation maintains the integrity of
species by reducing gene flow.
* Gene flow – also called a gene migration.
Gene flow is the transfer of genetic material
from one population to another. Gene flow can
take place between two populations of the same
 General Biology 2

species through migration and is mediated by Postzygotic Barriers

reproduction and vertical gene transfer from
parent to offspring.

Prezygotic and Postzygotic Barriers:

Prezygotic Barriers

What are the benefits of having several mechanisms

for reproductive isolation?
− The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a
collection of evolutionary mechanisms,
behaviors and physiological processes critical
for speciation. They prevent members of
different species from producing offspring or
ensure that any offspring are sterile.
 General Biology 2
Why do you think did animals evolve with behavioral
preferences for mating partner?
Warm Up
Guide Questions
1. How do you describe isolation in your own
words?
• It refers to the total separation of two entities.
2. What do you think could be the effects of
isolation in the species' population?
• It may cause speciation of two incipient
population that were separated by random
events.
3. Do you think human populations were isolated
from one another?
• Yes, isolation is the reason having different
races of humans.
Knowledge Check Question
1. What are the benefits of having several
mechanisms for reproductive isolation?
• It allows restriction in the reproduction of each
species. It is a natural way of controlling
hybridization.
Check Your Understanding
A. Identify if the statements are true or false.
False 1. Hybrid infertility allows incipient individuals to
produce offspring, however, this offspring may lack the
capacity to achieve sexual maturity and be able to
reproduce. For example, some frog hybrids are not
capable of producing viable offspring.
True 2. Postzygotic isolation barriers may refer to the
mechanisms that inhibit individuals to have complete
offspring.
False 3. Ecological barriers rely on the differences in
terms of the behavior of the incipient individuals.
True 4. To develop new species from in the presence
of ecological barriers, the evolution of genetically based
internal barriers to gene flow is needed for speciation
to proceed.
True 5. Once sexual maturity is reached, mature
individuals can copulate and reproduce.
False 6. Meiosis is needed to increase the number of
cells in the zygote that further divides and differentiates
to form the new individual.
True 7. Without the internal barriers to gene flow, two
parts of the population will freely interbreed once they
come back into contact.
True 8. For other lower animals like invertebrates,
sexual reproduction happens through self-fertilization.
True 9. The organisms are considered as
hermaphrodite animals that can produce both types of
sex cells for fertilization.
True 10. The process of speciation needs two
incipient species to be unable to create viable offspring
together or that they avoid mating with members of the
other group.
B. Classify if the given scenario involves prezygotic or
postzygotic isolation.
Prezygotic 1. Two individuals do not have the same
body size and this inhibits mating.
Postzygotic 2. The individuals are both infertile.
Postzygotic 3. The couple cannot produce children
due to a low sperm count in the male.
Postzygotic 4. The female cannot produce a
complete egg cell.
 General Biology 2

Prezygotic 5. Two populations of the same species 4. Do you think most organisms will survive if they
are separated by a river. only exhibit asexual reproduction?
Prezygotic 6. Zoo animals and others in captivity • No, asexual reproduction does not involve
are not able to mate with wild animals. recombination.
Prezygotic 7. Frog individuals having different voice • This means that the offspring produced are
calls. exact copies of the parent that produced them.
Postzygotic 8. Donkeys producing offspring that are • This thus leads to a lowering of genetic diversity
incapable of reproducing. and may eventually negatively affect the
Prezygotic 9. Birds from a highland area cannot fitness of the individuals.
mate with other birds in the lowland area. 5. Why do you think animals evolved with
Prezygotic 10. The females of a bird species have behavioral preference for mating partners?
a preference for males with long feathers. • It is important for increasing the fitness of the
offspring by selecting the preferred traits that
Challenge Yourself indicate higher fitness.

Answer the following questions.

1. How do geographic barriers play a role in
speciation?
• Geographic barriers physically prevent MODES OF SPECIATION
populations of species from meeting each
other, which prevents reproduction. Speciation – refers to the process of emergence of
• If this isolation happens for a long time and new species from its ancestral population.
changes happen to one of the populations, then o Most of the time, speciation involves evolution
speciation may occur. where transformation of species through time
2. How can prezygotic barriers affect the genetic occurs.
structure of the population?
• It can dictate the dominant genotype in the Importance of Speciation:
population since individuals prefer a certain
trait to be present in their potential reproductive
partners.
3. What is the relationship between recombination
and reproduction?
• Reproduction involves recombination of genetic
materials between parents.
• The male and female gametes are recombined
which produces new combinations for the
genes.
 General Biology 2

Modes of Speciation:

➢ Peripatric Speciation
• Is a form of allopatric speciation where one

➢ Allopatric Speciation of the isolated populations experience

• Can also be referred to as the process of founder effects and has very few

speciation through total geographic individuals.

isolation of the two incipient populations. − Involves the founder effect.

− The presence of a geographic barrier can

cause allopatric speciation.

− Occurs when some members of a

➢ Parapatric Speciation
population become geographically
• Does not involve specific extrinsic barriers
separated from the other members thereby
between two incipient populations to inhibit
preventing gene flow.
gene flow.
− Does not need a specific barrier to inhibit
gene flow.
 General Biology 2

➢ Sympatric Speciation False 5. In parapatric speciation, the incipient

• Does not involve geographic distance to population with small size tends to undergo full
reduce gene flow and cause speciation. speciation because of geographic isolation and genetic
− Occurs within the same geographic drift.
location. False 6. In allopatric speciation, the incipient
individuals still have the opportunity to mate, but
occupy different niches which lead to reduced gene
flow between individuals.
True 7. Punctuated equilibrium describes that the
traits of species are stable in optimum environmental
conditions. The appearance of environmental changes
may destabilize these traits.
True 8. Adaptation refers to the process by which
organisms cope up with changing conditions.
True 9. With the presence of reproductive barriers,
Knowledge Check Question reduced gene flow may lead to complete speciation.
1. Do you think different modes of speciation have True 10. Adaptational change plays an essential part
different degrees of effect on the in the process of evolution and this results in speciation.
genetic structure of the population?
• Yes, they have different degrees of effect due B. Classify if the given scenario is an example of
to different degrees on how they affect gene allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, or sympatric
flow between the two incipient populations. speciation.
Peripatric 1. speciation between the island and
Check Your Understanding mainland populations.
A. Identify if the statements are true or false. Allopatric 2. speciation of populations separated
True 1. Most of the time, speciation involves by the Amazon river.
evolution where the transformation of species through Allopatric 3. speciation of populations separated
time occurs. by Sierra Madre mountain range.
True 2. Evolutionary changes take a long period of Sympatric 4. speciation of populations living in two
time making the changes extremely hard to observe. lakes connected by a small river.
True 3. Speciation rate or the measurement of the Allopatric 5. speciation of bird populations in low
time it takes for species to emerge is governed by two and highland range.
concepts. Allopatric 6. speciation of fish populations in two
True 4. Gradualism states that the changes in the disconnected lakes.
traits of populations are small and accumulate over Sympatric 7. speciation of humans in different
time. continents.
 General Biology 2

Allopatric 8. speciation of worms populations in 5. What is the role of speciation in shaping the
two different human hosts. biodiversity of the ecosystem?
Sympatric/Parapatric 9. speciation of fungi • Speciation creates new species, thus causing
populations in different parts of the same plant higher diversity.
individual.
Sympatric 10. speciation of plant populations in
contaminated and non-contaminated soil.

Challenge Yourself
Answer the following questions.
1. Why do you think speciation takes time?
• Because it is dependent on the evolutionary
change that can only be observed through a
series of generations in the population.
2. Is it possible to achieve speciation with the
absence of evolution?
• No, speciation is one of the products of
evolution.
3. How does reproductive isolation aid in the
speciation process?
• Reproductive isolation hinders gene flow, which
is one of the requirements for speciation.
• The hindrance of gene flow prevents the mixing
of genes and may eventually lead to enough
changes forming between the species.
4. Do you think the human population is still
evolving?
• Yes, this is evident with niche differences that
humans occupy and the geographic isolation
that occur to some populations.
• Furthermore, the mixing of gene pools can
cause new traits to form.
• The selection also occurs in populations, which
may lead to the alteration of gene frequencies.