Question

Discuss the influence that population size can have on

strictlyrandom changes in allele and genotype frequencies in
organisms andwhat this might mean to the viability of small
populations.

Answer 1

When a population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for a gene, it does not evolve and allelic frequencies will remain the same for generations.

There are five basic Hardy-Weinberg assumptions: there is no mutation, the mating is random, there is no gene flow, the population size is infinite and there is no selection.

If the assumptions are not met for a gene, the population can evolve for that gene (that is, the allelic frequencies of that gene may change).

The mechanisms of evolution are violations of the different Hardy-Weinberg assumptions: mutation, non-random mating, genetic flow, finite population size (gene drift) and natural selection.