2: Population genetics. Problem of small population size Small populations are less fit (more...
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Transcript of 2: Population genetics. Problem of small population size Small populations are less fit (more...
2: Population genetics
Problem of small population size
Small populations are less fit (more vulnerable) than large populations
In small populations drift is dominant.
1
1 4G
Nu
Small N -> Large G -> low genetic diversity.
In small populations each individual has higher chances to be homozygous for deleterious genes. This is the same problem as in inbreeding.
Notably, small populations do not harbor more deleterious genes, they just have more homozygotes for these genes
Population size and drift-selection balance
Selection helps fixing “good” alleles (alleles that are positively selected). In small populations drift can be a stronger evolutionary force than selection and good alleles may disappear.
Conclusion
Population size and the level of genetic diversity of a population are good indicators of the health of a population.
Panthera pardus nimr
Example
2: Population genetics
Effective population size
It was noted that lab populations of drosophila tend to loose their genetic diversity faster than expected by genetic drift models.
The reason is that in a population not all individual reproduce. In other words, the number of individuals do not always reflects the number of individuals that contribute their alleles to the next generation.
The effective size of a population (Ne) is the size of an ideal population that has the same properties with respect to genetic drift as our actual population.
Effective population size
When the number of individual vary through the time
generation 1 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 2 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 3 = 100 individuals (bottleneck)generation 4 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 5 = 10,000 individuals
Examples when Ne and N differ
Bottleneck
B
B
b
Bb
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
B
B
B
b
b
b
b bb
b
b
Bottleneck
Population bottlenecks occur when a population size is reduced for at least one generation. Because genetic drift acts more quickly in small populations, undergoing a bottleneck can substantially reduce the genetic variation of a population and change the frequencies of alleles, even if the bottleneck does not last for very many generations.
The effective size of the population is closer to 100 individuals than to 1,000.
When the number of individual vary through the time
generation 1 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 2 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 3 = 100 individuals (bottleneck)generation 4 = 10,000 individualsgeneration 5 = 10,000 individuals
Bottleneck
Founder effect
The loss of genetic variation when a new colony is established by a very small number of individuals from a larger population
Derivation of Ne when population size varies
1 1 2
1 2 0
1 1 1'( ) (1 ) '( 1) (1 )(1 ) '( 2)
2 2 2
1 1 1'( ) (1 )(1 ) (1 ) '(0)
2 2 2
t t t
t t
H t H t H tN N N
H t HN N N
When size varies
1 1'( 1) (1 ) '( )
2 21
'( 1) (1 ) '( )2
1'( ) '(0)(1 )
2t
G t G tN N
H t H tN
H t HN
Derivation of Ne when population size varies
2
1 1(1 ) 1 ( )
2 2t t
ON N N
1'( ) '(0)(1 )
2tH t H
N
1 2 0
1 1 1'( ) (1 )(1 ) (1 ) '(0)
2 2 2t t
H t HN N N
Approximations
21 2 0 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1(1 )(1 ) (1 ) 1 ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2 2t t t
ON N N N N N
1 2 0
1 1 1 1(1 ) (1 )(1 ) (1 )
2 2 2 2t
t tN N N N
Derivation of Ne when population size varies
0 1
0 1
0 1
1 11 1 ( )
2 2 2
1 1
2 2
1 1 1 1( )2 2
t
t
t
t
N N N
t
N N N
N t N N
N is big, 1/N2 is small…
21 2 0 0 1
1 1 1 1 1 1(1 )(1 ) (1 ) 1 ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2 2t t t
ON N N N N N
1 2 0
1 1 1 1(1 ) (1 )(1 ) (1 )
2 2 2 2t
t tN N N N
2
1 1(1 ) 1 ( )
2 2t t
ON N N
Derivation of Ne when population size varies
0 1
1 1 1 1( )2 2e tN t N N
An ideal population with size Ne will behave similar to a population that varies in size according to the above equation in terms of H’.
In lions Nm< Nf
Examples when Ne and N differ
When the number of breeding male Nm and breeding female Nf differ.
Lions are the only 'social' cats, whereby related female lions live together and form groups called 'prides'. Lion prides are family groups with all of the females related, mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins, etc, While female lions will live with the pride for life, male lions will only last two to four years before they are evicted or killed by a new coalition of male lions that take over the pride.
Lion group structure
Ne is the effective population sizeNf is the number of femalesNm is the number of males
fm
fme NN
NNN
4
Drift and sex ratio: the formula
(without proof)
Example
A population of 100 individuals, consisting of 10 breeding males and 90 breeding females , would lose genetic variability as rapidly as a population consisting of only 18 males and 18 females or 36 individuals
Number of
Males
Number of
Females
sex ratio
4NmNf Nm+Nf Ne
m/f
100100140000200200
901100.81818239600200198
801200.66666738400200192
701300.53846236400200182
601400.42857133600200168
501500.33333330000200150
401600.2525600200128
301700.17647120400200102
201800.1111111440020072
101900.052632760020038
51950.025641390020019.5
11990.0050257962003.98
2: Population genetics
Conservation BiologyWhich species to protect?
(species that lost a lot of diversity or more variable species)
Where to place natural reserves?(should we consider areas that have a lot of species, or areas that have genetically different individuals)
What should be the size of reserves?(a too small reserve will not protect against drift)
2: Population genetics
Example of founder effect
[Huchon et al. 1999 Molecular Ecology 8, 1743–1748]
Dasypus novemcinctus (nine banded armadillo)
Armadillo founder effect
Armadillo founder effect
•The expansion of the range of the nine-banded armadillo into the USA is unique among placental mammals in that it has been occurring since the mid-19th century at a mean rate of 10 km a year.
•This fast migration may have resulted from a low predation on adults, a lack of natural competitors, a weak homing ability (although it is rather sedentary with small home ranges), and human-induced translocations.
Armadillo founder effect
Armadillo founder effectThe researchers compared the genetic diversity of the North-America armadillo population to that of French Guiana
Haplotype
They compared the number of haplotypes = combinations of one or more alleles (e.g., in a sequence, each unique set of SNPs is considered an haplotype).
They sequenced the mitochondrial control region (which is relatively highly variable).
2 haplotypes
10 haplotypes
greatest distance between two captured armadillos was 32 km
greatest distance between two captured armadillos was 1,026 km
outgroupUSA armadillo are significantly less diversed than those of French Guiana
2: Population genetics
Speciation and geographical distribution
•Populations that are at the limit of the species range tend to be slightly different from the rest of the populations.
•New species have higher chances to appear from these populations.
2: Population genetics