Section 1.
Question 3.
M13 Locus
M13 locus is the segment of plasmid DNA that is packaged within filamentous bacteriophage, and it occurs in both double and single-stranded forms. M13 RF is digestible with restriction endonucleases, and it is possible to clone the inserts in the plasmid. In molecular biology, M13 locus is used as a source of DNA single strands. It also has applications in site-directed mutagenesis as well as in sequencing (Mulhardt, 2007).
T7 Promoter
T7 promoter is a segment of DNA located upstream of the T7 RNA polymerase binding site. This sequence regulates the T7 RNA polymerase. In molecular biology lab work, the interaction of T7 and T7 RNA polymerase is used to bring the transcription of cloned DNA segments in vectors with two oppositely oriented phage promoters (Clark, 2005).
LacZ
lacZ is a gene that codes for a lactose-digesting enzyme, Beta-galactosidase. Bacterial cells use Beta-galactosidase to digest lactose as a source of energy. In molecular biology, lacZ is used as a reporter gene for expression or the presence of a gene regulatory sequence of interest. The reporting system can be used in plants, animals, cell cultures, and bacterial cells (Clark, 2005).
pUC Origin
pUC origin describes the origin of replication of several plasmid cloning vectors that were built by Joachim Messing (Clark, 2005). Plasmids with pUC origin are circular and double-stranded and have 2686 base pairs. The most commonly used pUC is pUC19 and pUC18. pUC, especially pUC19, are used as model plasmids in molecular biology plasmid research.
Ampicillin Resistance ORF
Ampicillin resistance ORF comprises the bacterial plasmid gene segment that confers gene resistance to bacterial cells. It codes for B-lactamase to catalyze the breakdown of ampicillin’s b-lactum. In the lab, ampicillin resistance ORF is used as a selectable marker for ampicillin resistance (Mulhardt, 2007).
Section 2.
Question 1.
- Number of populations: 5
- Number of individuals: 200
- Lost populations: 3 (population 2, 4, and 5)
- Fixed populations: 2 (population 1and 3)
- Number of generations to fixation for population 1: 450
- Number of generations to fixation for population 3: 555
- (Hamilton, 2009)
- Time to fixation for population 1 =1247.76
- Time to fixation for population 3 =1538.90.
- Mean time to fixation (1247.76+1538.90)/2 =1393.33
Question 2.
- Population: Allele frequency
- Generations to fixation:
- Population 1:
- 9
- 40
- Population 2:
- 9
- 60
- Population 1:
- 8
- 80
- Population 2:
- 8
- 40
- Population 1:
- 7
- 70
- Population 2:
- 7
- 90
- Population 1:
- 6
- 140
- Population 2:
- 6
- 200
- Population 1:
- 5
- 280
- Population 2:
- 5
- Lost
- Population 1:
Conclusion: By running two populations with a descending order allele frequency one can be able to determine the generations to fixation. From the observations made, one can also derive the change in time to fixation because it varies in proportion with the generations to fixation. In this simulation, generations to fixation increase with an increase in allele frequency.
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Question 3.
- Fitness values: mean generation to fixation
- Comment on rate of fixation.
- A1A1
- A1A2
- A2A2
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 64
- Fixation happens after at least 64 generations.
- 1
- 1
- 5
- 66
- Fixation happens after 66 generations
- 1
- 5
- 1
- 13
- Fixation happens after 13 generations
- 5
- 1
- 1
- 0 (all lost)
- All populations are lost
- 1
- 5
- 5
- 5
- Fixation happens after 5 generations.
- 5
- 5
- 1
- 0 (all lost)
- All populations are lost
- 5
- 1
- 5
- 0 (no loss and no fixation)
- No fixation and no loss
Conclusion: natural selection of A1A1 increases the average generation to fixation and reduces the rate of fixation. Natural selection of A1A2 does not result in either loss or fixation of either of the populations (Time to fixation is infinite). Natural selection of A2A2 causes the loss of all populations.
Question 4.
According to the simulations, genetic drift can be described as the processes by which a population’s allele frequency changes as a consequence of chance events rather than natural selection or artificial selection. Genetic drift plays one of the most significant roles in evolution (Hamilton, 2009).
Question 5.
Genetic drift causes the loss of genetic diversity in the population. Some alleles are lost while others are fixed. The ultimate characteristic of the resultant population is that it has a specific set of alleles that is not diverse because of loss. The few surviving organisms have fewer variations and result in inbreeding to perpetuate the species.
Question 6.
If genetic drift is acting on multiple populations, the effects of the process are different. In small isolated populations, genetic drift is more likely to produce highly distinct populations. The changes in gene frequencies in small isolated populations change more randomly without the interference of natural selection and mutation. Additionally, the susceptibility of populations to random changes in gene frequencies increases with a reduction in population size. The opposite effect is observed in large populations (Hamilton, 2009).
Question 7.
If natural selection is acting, the small populations are more likely to become more distinct than the larger ones. Genetic drift is milder in largely isolated populations, giving natural selection a chance to produce variations within that population. However, in smaller populations, genetic drift is more intense leading to the production of a distinct form (Hamilton, 2009).
Question 8.
The evolution force likely to act on experimental Drosophila melanogaster is genetic drift. The gene frequencies, in this case, would be influenced by random chances and not natural selection. Depending on the controlled conditions of the experiment, the population may also be acted upon by mutation to bring evolution (HAMILTON, 2009).
Reference list:
- Clark, D. P. (2005). Molecular biology. Amsterdam, Elsevier Academic Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10138184.
- Hamilton, M. B. (2009). Population genetics. Chichester, UK, Wiley-Blackwell.
- Mulhardt, C. (2007). Molecular biology and genomics. Amsterdam, Elsevier Academic Press. http://www.engineeringvillage.com/controller/servlet/OpenURL?genre=book&isbn=9780120885466.
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