Lecture 4

BIOLOGI POPULASI
SHES1203
DrSAR
Stabilizing selection
During stabilizing selection, one phenotype is preserved over time because the same
alleles are selected for
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causing the allele frequency to remain fixed

For example;
Until recent medical intervention, mortality was greater in human babies with high
and low birth weights
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but very low for babies of intermediate weight

hence, the alleles for intermediate body weight were selected for
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and baby size remained the same from generation to generation

Examples of long term stabilizing selection are:

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Maidenhair tree, chambered nautilus and horseshoe crab

They are called living fossils because they have remained relatively
unchanged for millions of years

Present day individuals look almost identical to multimillion-year-old fossils

of their ancestors.

* However, some scientists argue that the lack of change may not be due to
stabilizing selection, but rather to restricted mutation rates, or to the unchanging
environments of these organisms.

Directional selection
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When environmental conditions change

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the most common phenotype in the population may lose its selective
advantage

Under new conditions, phenotype at either one extreme or the other may be better
suited,

increasing survival and reproduction of individuals with extreme

phenotypes

When a phenotype at one extreme is repeatedly selected by the environment,

phenotypes shift steadily in one direction.

The shift in frequency from the light peppered moth to the dark form during the
industrial revolution is an example of directional selection
When new favourable alleles are added to a gene pool,

the more favourable alleles may gradually replace less favourable

alleles by directional selection

Directional selection may also occur in founding populations where different

environmental conditions select phenotypes other than those selected for in the
former site.

Diversifying selection
Diversifying selection occurs when 2 or more uncommon phenotypes increase in
frequency,

while once-favoured intermediate forms decrease

Diversifying selection promotes dimorphism (2 forms of a trait) or sometimes

polymorphism (many forms of a trait) in the population.
Example of polymorphism is found in female African swallowtail butterflies (Papilio
dardanus).

although they are all members of the same species female swallowtail
butterflies have strikingly different appearances (phenotypes)

All females would make a tasty meal for birds,

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but each female phenotype survives and reproduces because it

accurately mimics a local population of untasty butterflies
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one that is usually avoided by bird predators

Balanced polymorphism
When 2 or more alleles for a single trait are maintained at fairly high frequencies
from generation to generation,

the population shows balanced polymorphism

The diversity in phenotypes of female African swallowtail butterflies is an example of

balanced polymorphism

because more than one phenotype is naturally selected and therefore

persists over time

Balanced polymorphism also results when heterozygotes are naturally selected over
homozygotes
For example in the case of the sickle-cell anemia

a genetic disease that deforms human red blood cells

In tropical zones of Africa, heterozygotes (Aa) have a greater chance of surviving

than either homozygotic pair (AA or aa)

because the recessive allele increases resistance to malaria

Selection for heterozygotes maintains the recessive allele at a high level

even though the homozygous recessive (aa) combination is

fatal.

Sexual selection
Not all naturally selected adaptations improve an individuals chances of survival
The spectacular tail feathers of a peacock and the cumbersome antlers of male deer
can actually hinder the individual

However, since these adaptations improve the chances of mating and reproducing,

they are naturally selected

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 This form of natural selection is called

sexual selection

Sexual selection often leads to sexual dimorphism,

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i.e. visibly different males and females of the same species

Sexual dimorphism promotes mating by advertising gender to the opposite sex.