In: Biology
By considering the genotypes in a single generation (NOT changes in frequencies over time or changes from one generation to the next), how would you show that natural selection is occurring in the Near-Lethal Homozygote (near-lethal recessive) simulation (Hint: think about Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium).
When a population is in Hardy -Weinberg equilibrium for a gene, it is not evolving, and allele frequency will stay the same across generations. There are five basic Hardy-weinberg assumptions : no mutation, random mating, no gene flow, infinite population size, and no selection.
If the allele frequencies are p and q, then at Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium you will have (p+q)×(p+q) = p2+2pq+q2 as the distribution of the genotypes. The frequency of AA individual will be p2. The frequency of Aa individual will be 2qp. The frequency of aa individual will be q2.
Natural selection acts on the phenotype, but evolution is a change in the frequency of alleles in a population over time, a change in genotype. So natuaral selection acts on phenotype, but it is the connection to genotype that makes it the mechanism of evolution.
Natuaral selection can decrease the genetic variation in populations of organisms by selecting for or against a specific gene or gene combination ( leading to directional selection).