Population Genetics And Evolution

Self-contained and reader-friendly, this volume provides a balanced blend of evolutionary theory, population genetics, and systematics with an emphasis on the experimental approach.

Publisher Description

The advances made possible by the development of molecular techniques have in recent years revolutionized quantitative genetics and its relevance for population genetics. Population Genetics and Microevolutionary Theory takes a modern approach to population genetics, incorporating modern molecular biology, species-level evolutionary biology, and a thorough acknowledgment of quantitative genetics as the theoretical basis for population genetics. Logically organized into three main sections on population structure and history, genotype-phenotype interactions, and selection/adaptation Extensive use of real examples to illustrate concepts Written in a clear and accessible manner and devoid of complex mathematical equations Includes the author's introduction to background material as well as a conclusion for a handy overview of the field and its modern applications Each chapter ends with a set of review questions and answers Offers helpful general references and Internet links

At least since the 1940s neo-Darwinism has prevailed as the consensus view in the study of evolution. The mechanism of evolution in this view is natural selection leading to adaptation, working on a substrate of adapta tionally random mutations. As both the study of genetic variation in natural populations, and the study of the mathematical equations of selec tion are reckoned to a field called population genetics, population genetics came to form the core in the theory of evolution. So much so, that the fact that there is more to the theory of evolution than population genetics became somewhat obscured. The genetics of the evolutionary process, or the genetics of evolutionary change, came close to being all of evolutionary biology. In the last 10 years, this dominating position of population genetics within evolutionary biology has been challenged. In evolutionary ecology, optimization theory proved more useful than population genetics for interesting predictions, especially of life history strategies. From develop mental biology, constraints in development and the role of internal regula tion were emphasized. From paleobiology, a proposal was put forward to describe the fossil record and the evolutionary process as a series of punc tuated equilibria; thus exhorting population geneticists to give a plausible account of how such might come about. All these developments tend to obscure the central role of population genetics in evolutionary biology.

Darwinian evolution in mendelian populations. Random genetic drift. Mutation and the neutral theory. Natural selection. Inbreeding and other forms of nonrandom mating. Population subdivision and migration. Molecular population genetics. Evolutionary genetics of quantitative characters. Ecological genetics and speciation.

One of this century's leading evolutionary biologists, Motoo Kimura revolutionized the field with his random drift theory of molecular evolution—the neutral theory—and his groundbreaking theoretical work in population genetics. This volume collects 57 of Kimura's most important papers and covers forty years of his diverse and original contributions to our understanding of how genetic variation affects evolutionary change. Kimura's neutral theory, first presented in 1968, challenged the notion that natural selection was the sole directive force in evolution. Arguing that mutations and random drift account for variations at the level of DNA and amino acids, Kimura advanced a theory of evolutionary change that was strongly challenged at first and that eventually earned the respect and interest of evolutionary biologists throughout the world. This volume includes the seminal papers on the neutral theory, as well as many others that cover such topics as population structure, variable selection intensity, the genetics of quantitative characters, inbreeding systems, and reversibility of changes by random drift. Background essays by Naoyuki Takahata examine Kimura's work in relation to its effects and recent developments in each area.

Making the theory of population genetics relevant to readers, this book explains the related mathematics with a logical organization. It presents the quantitative aspects of population genetics, and employs examples of human genetics, medical evolution, human evolution, and endangered species. For an introduction to, and understanding of, population genetics.

This is a reprint of a classic which synthesizes population, genetics, and population genetics to form one of the first books on evolutionary ecology. Written by one of the foremost authorities in the field, it is designed as an introduction useful to readers at various levels from diverse backgrounds. It features balanced, readable coverge of both elementary and advanced topics that are essential to those interested in evolutionary biology, ecology, animal behavior, sociobiology, and paleobiology.