EvolutionLesson 1 of 3 in the course Molecular evolution

Molecular Evolution: Sequence Inference, Allele Dynamics, and Genome Change

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 4 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Molecular evolution examines how inherited DNA and RNA change over time and how those changes affect proteins, cells, organisms, and evolutionary relationships. This lesson introduces the field, its historical development, and how sequence data are used to infer phylogenetic trees.

Molecular evolution describes changes in inherited DNA and/or RNA over evolutionary time and the consequences of those changes for proteins and other components of organisms. It provides a foundation for phylogenetic approaches to describing the tree of life. It overlaps especially with population genetics, which often focuses on genetic change in populations over shorter timescales.

All flashcards

What is a molecular clock?
A method that uses sequence differences and a rate of change to estimate when lineages shared a most recent common ancestor.
What is a mutation spectrum?
The distribution of rates at which different types of mutations occur.
What is GC-biased gene conversion?
A repair-related transmission bias that favors G or C alleles over A or T alleles.
What is constructive neutral evolution?
A framework proposing that complex systems can arise through neutral changes without each intermediate providing an immediate advantage.
What is retrotransposition?
The copying of an mRNA sequence back into DNA and its insertion elsewhere in the genome.

Quiz questions

  1. What does a phylogenetic tree represent in molecular phylogenetics?Answer: A hypothesis about evolutionary relationships inferred from sequence evidence and models.
  2. Which sequence change is generally more common than a transversion?Answer: A transition, which exchanges purines or exchanges pyrimidines.
  3. For neutral mutations, what is the fixation rate per generation?Answer: It equals the mutation rate per replication.
  4. How can GC-biased gene conversion affect allele transmission?Answer: It favors G or C alleles over A or T alleles during repair.
  5. What does the C-value paradox describe?Answer: The lack of a simple relationship between organismal complexity and haploid genome DNA amount.

Based on the Wikipedia article Molecular evolution, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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