Name      

Population Genetics Virtual Lab Simulation

Go to the following website for the lab:

http://virtualbiologylab.org/ModelsHTML5/PopGenFishbowl/PopGenFishbowl.html

Read the “Background Information” and answer the following questions.

1. How do we now define biological evolution?      

2. How are microevolution and macroevolution related?      

3. Hardy and Weinberg derived mathematical descriptions of the relationship between allele proportions and
genotype proportions. What is the premise and prediction of their model?
     

4. What are the five conditions that must be met for Hardy and Weinberg’s prediction to be true for a
population? The first one is listed for you:
1. The population is sufficiently able to support itself (population size is infinite)
2.      
3.      
4.      
5.      

The Hardy and Weinberg model is often described as “population equilibrium” because it predicts that the gene
allele proportions will not change (i.e. remain at equilibrium) in a population over time. We will be exploring
what happens when any of the five conditions required for their model are not met.

We will be doing some simple proportion math with the genotype alleles for the population. In the Hardy-
Weinberg equilibrium principle we will use the following formula to represent a population at equilibrium:

p2 + 2pq + q2 = 1

5. In this equation “p” represent which allele proportion (dominant/recessive)?      

6. “q” represents which allele proportion (dominant/recessive)?      

7. Rewrite the equation using the example genotype alleles for the gene:

     

In addition, you assume that for the koi color trait there are only two alleles in the population – R and r. If you
counted all the alleles for these traits, the fraction of r” alleles plus the fraction of “R” alleles would add up to 1.

This means that the fraction of pp (or “RR”) individuals plus the fraction of pq (or “Rr”) individuals plus the
fraction of qq (“rr”) individuals equals 1.

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The pq is multiplied by 2 because there are two ways to get that combination. You can get “R” from the male and
“r” from the female OR “r” from the male and “R” from female.

For example, if you know that you have 16% white fish (rr), then your qq, or q 2 value, is 16 and q = the square
root of .16 or .4; thus, the frequency of your r allele is .4 and since the sum of the r and R alleles must be 1, the
frequency of your R allele must be .6

If the allele frequencies after one round of random mating change at all from the original frequencies, the
population is not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and evolution has occurred within the population.

In other words, evolution occurs when any one or more of the five conditions of the Hardy-Weinberg model are
violated. Explain how each of the following evolutionary mechanisms effects the allele proportions in a
population.

8. Genetic Drift –      

9. Migration –      

10. Mutation –      

11. Selection (“relative fitness”) –      

12. Non-Random Mating –      

Selective Breeding:
Humans all over the world have been violating the “random mating” condition of the Hardy-Weinberg model
with selective breeding of plants and animals for centuries!

13. What are the three historical examples of artificial selection?

     
     
     

Koi Genetics
14. Describe the koi species including phonotype..
     

15. What are the phenotype and genotype of the Kohaku variety of koi?
Phenotypes: Genotypes:
           
           
           

16. Coloration in the Kohaku koi is based on what pattern of inheritance?      

When you have finished reading through the background and answer the questions you can now click on the
“home/house” button to continue.

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Click on “Tutorial” to continue.

Read through all steps of the tutorial before beginning the experiment.

17. How is the proportion of the “r” allele determined?      

Note: there is an error in step 7. – there are no barnacles in this simulation.

Experimenting with the Simulation

Experiment 1: No Evolution (no migration, no mutations, no difference in “relative fitness”, only random mating)
Experiment 2: Impact of migration rate increasing for “R”
Experiment 3: Increased mutation rate in “R”
Experiment 4: Difference in relative fitness among genotypes

Click on “To Design”

Experiment 1: NO EVOLUTION

Set all of the experiment parameters in the simulation to the following:

Click on “To Data”

and then press “Play” BUT be prepared to then “Pause” when the population reaches Generation 10 and record
that generation information in Table 1 and complete the final equation to determine if the population is
evolving at that time. Press the “Play” button again to continue and stop at 10 generation intervals through a
total of 100 generations.

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Table 1: Without Selection in the Koi population

Dominant Recessive p2 q2 2pq

Gen Population Size Proportion Proportion frequency frequency Frequency p2 + 2pq + q2 =
(red) (R) (white) (r) (RR) (rr) Rr

10                                          

20                                          

30                                          

40                                          

50                                          

60                                          

70                                          

80                                          

90                                          

100                                          

Click on “To Design”

You now need to “Reset” the Experimental Design. If the “Refresh” button
isn’t working on the website, trying clicking the “Home” button and then
click through the steps of the “Tutorial” again. That should reset the
experiment design. If that doesn’t work, try clicking on “To Design” and
then the reverse button to reset. Once you press “play” it should start with
the correct numbers.

Experiment 2: MIGRATION
Set all of the experiment parameters in the simulation to the following:

Click on “To Data”

and then press “Play” BUT be prepared to then “Pause” when the population reaches Generation 10 and record
that generation information in Table 2 and complete the final equation to determine if the population is
evolving at that time. Press the “Play” button again to continue and stop at 10 generation intervals through a
total of 100 generations.

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Table 2: The effect of migration on evolution in the Koi population
Dominant Recessive p2 q2 2pq
Gen Population Size Proportion Proportion frequency frequency Frequency p2 + 2pq + q2 =
(red) (R) (white) (r) (RR) (rr) Rr

10                                          

20                                          

30                                          

40                                          

50                                          

60                                          

70                                          

80                                          

90                                          

100                                          

Click on “To Design”

You now need to “Reset” the Experimental Design. If the “Refresh” button isn’t working on the website, trying
clicking the “Home” button and then click through the steps of the “Tutorial” again. That should reset the
experiment design. Once you press “play” it should start with the correct numbers.

Experiment 3: Increased mutation rate in “R”

Click on “To Design”

Set all of the experiment parameters in the simulation to the following:

Click on “To Data”

and then press “Play” BUT be prepared to then “Pause” when the population reaches Generation 10 and record
that generation information in Table 2 and complete the final equation to determine if the
population is evolving at that time. Press the “Play” button again to continue and stop at 10
generation intervals through a total of 100 generations.

Table 3: The effect of mutations on evolution in the Koi population

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 Dominant Recessive p2 q2 2pq
Population
Gen Proportion Proportion frequency frequency Frequency p2 + 2pq + q2 =
Size
(red) (R) (white) (r) (RR) (rr) Rr

10                                          

20                                          

30                                          

40                                          

50                                          

60                                          

70                                          

80                                          

90                                          

100                                          

Click on “To Design”

You now need to “Reset” the Experimental Design. If the “Refresh” button isn’t working on the website, trying
clicking the “Home” button and then click through the steps of the “Tutorial” again. That should reset the
experiment design. Once you press “play” it should start with the correct numbers.

Experiment 4: Difference in Genotype Relative Fitness

Click on “To Design”

Set all of the experiment parameters in the simulation to the following:

Click on “To Data”

and then press “Play” BUT be prepared to then “Pause” when the
population reaches Generation 10 and record that generation
information in Table 2 and complete the final equation to determine
if the population is evolving at that time. Press the “Play” button
again to continue and stop at 10 generation intervals through a total
of 100 generations.

Table 4: The effect of variable genotype relative fitness on evolution in the Koi population

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 Dominant Recessive p2 q2 2pq
Population
Gen Proportion Proportion frequency frequency Frequency p2 + 2pq + q2 =
Size
(red) (R) (white) (r) (RR) (rr) Rr

10                                          

20                                          

30                                          

40                                          

50                                          

60                                          

70                                          

80                                          

90                                          

100                                          

You are now finished with the simulation on the website and you have sped up time to observe a population over
100 generations (a benefit of a simulation lab!!).

Analysis
Create a graph for each experiment showing the change in the “R” and “r” alleles in the population over time. For
each graph: make sure to include an appropriate and descriptive title, label the axes, use equal increments for the
axes and include a key. Move the colored dots to the appropriate location on the graphs.

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Graph 1 Title:
     
Label

Label:      
Key:      

Graph 2 Title:      

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Key:      

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10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Label

Label:      
Key:      

Graph 4 Title:      

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      9.0
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Discussion
1. Which experiment design had the greatest effect on evolution of color in the koi population? Explain and
provide a reasoning for this occurrence and include specific examples from your results to support your
answer.
     

2. What are the ways you can determine if the population is evolving? Include specific examples from your
results to support your answer.
     

3. What would happen if it were more advantageous to be heterozygous (Rr)? Would there still be homozygous
fish? What would the allele proportions look like? Explain your reasoning.
     

4. What would happen if there was a predator introduced to the pond? How would the population genetic
makeup likely change?
     

5. How is doing a virtual simulation for this lab beneficial over performing the lab in “real life”?
     

Application
Sickle-cell anemia is an inherited genetic disease that has an interesting selective benefit for individuals with the
disease. Normal homozygous individuals (AA) have normal blood cells that are easily infected with the malarial
parasite. Thus, many of these individuals become very ill from the parasite and many die. Individuals who are
homozygous for the sickle-cell trait (aa) have red blood cells that readily collapse when deoxygenated. Although
malaria cannot grow in these red blood cells, individuals often die because of this genetic defect. However,
individuals with the heterozygous condition (Aa) have some sickling of red blood cells, but generally not enough
to cause mortality. In addition, malaria cannot survive well within these "partially defective" red blood cells.
Thus, heterozygotes tend to survive better than either of the homozygous conditions.

If 9% of an African population is born with a severe form of sickle-cell anemia (aa), what percentage of the
population will be more resistant to malaria because they are heterozygous (Aa) for the sickle-cell gene? SHOW
all of the work used to determine your answer.

     

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