This glossary of genetics and evolutionary biology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the study of genetics and evolutionary biology, as well as sub-disciplines and related fields, with an emphasis on classical genetics, quantitative genetics, population biology, phylogenetics, speciation, and systematics. It has been designed as a companion to Glossary of cellular and molecular biology, which contains many overlapping and related terms; other related glossaries include Glossary of biology and Glossary of ecology.
A
adaptation 1. The dynamic evolutionary process by which biological organisms develop characteristics that allow them to survive and reproduce within their environments. 2. The state or condition reached by a population during that process. 3. Any character or phenotypic trait with a functional role in an individual organism and which has evolved and is maintained through natural selection.
adaptationism Also called functionalism. The Darwinian view that many or most physiological and behavioral traits of organisms are adaptations that have evolved for specific functions or for specific reasons (as opposed to being byproducts of the evolution of other traits, consequences of biological constraints, or the result of random variation).
adaptive radiation The simultaneous or near-simultaneous evolutionary divergence of multiple members of a single phylogenetic lineage into a variety of different forms with different adaptations, especially a diversification in the use of resources or habitats.
agamospecies A species that does not reproduce sexually but rather by cloning. Agamospecies are sometimes represented by species complexes that contain some diploid individuals and other apomictic forms—in particular, plant species that can reproduce via agamospermy.
allele One of multiple alternative versions of an individual gene, each of which is a viable DNA sequence occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome. For example, in humans, one allele of the eye-color gene produces blue eyes and another allele of the eye-color gene produces brown eyes.
allele frequency The relative frequency with which a particular allele of a given gene (as opposed to other alleles of the same gene) occurs at a particular locus in the members of a population; more specifically, it is the proportion of all chromosomes within a population that carry a particular allele, expressed as a fraction or percentage. Allele frequency is distinct from genotype frequency, although they are related.
allochronic isolation The isolation of two populations of a species due to a change in breeding periods. This isolation acts as a precursor to allochronic speciation, a type of speciation which results when two populations of a species become isolated due to differences in reproductive timing. An example is the periodical 13- and 17-year Magicicada species.
allo-parapatric speciation A mode of speciation where divergence occurs in allopatry and is completed upon secondary contact of the populations--effectively a form of reinforcement.
allometry The comparative study of the relationship between the size of an organism's body (or of a specific organ, e.g. the brain) and various other biological characteristics, such as body shape, anatomy, physiology, or behavior.
allopatric speciation Also called geographic speciation, vicariance, vicariant speciation, and dichopatric speciation. A mode of speciation where the evolution of reproductive isolation is caused by the geographic separation of two or more populations of a single species.
allopatric taxa Specific species that are allopatrically distributed.
allopatry The phenomenon by which two or more populations of a single species exist in geographic isolation from one another.
allopolyploid A polyploid cell or organism in which the several sets of chromosomes originate from more than one species, as in an intraspecific hybrid.
allo-sympatric speciation A mode of speciation where divergence occurs in allopatry and is completed upon secondary contact of the populations–effectively a form of reinforcement.
altruism
anagenesis Evolutionary change that occurs within a species lineage as opposed to lineage splitting (cladogenesis).
analogous structures A set of morphological structures in different organisms which have similar form or function but were not present in the organisms' last common ancestor. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy.
ancestor
ancestral trait Also called an ancestral character, primitive character, or primitive trait. For a given clade, any trait or feature (e.g. a specific phenotype) that appears in the clade's common ancestor; the same trait may also appear in some or all of the lineal descendants included within the clade, indicating that it has undergone little or no significant change during the clade's evolutionary history and thus retained its "primitive" condition. Some but not all subgroups within the clade may contain derived traits, in which the ancestral trait has changed significantly over evolutionary time such that the original ancestral condition no longer exists. Both terms are relative: an ancestral trait for one clade may be a derived trait for a different clade. The term "ancestral trait" is often used interchangeably with the more technical term plesiomorphy.
annidation
anticipation A phenomenon by which the symptoms of a genetic disorder become apparent (and often more severe) at an earlier age in affected individuals with each generation that inherits the disorder.
apomorphy A derived character state; i.e. the state or condition of a particular trait or feature (e.g. a specific phenotype) that is distinct from and derivative of an ancestral character by virtue of its modification over time in one or more lineal descendants of a given clade. Apomorphies are often viewed as evolutionary "innovations" which set the taxa in which they appear apart from the clade's common ancestor, as well as from other clades; shared apomorphies are used to construct and define clades. The term is relative; a trait considered an apomorphy in one clade may not be considered an apomorphy in a different clade. Contrast plesiomorphy.
aptation Any character or phenotypic trait that is currently subject to natural selection, whether its origin can be ascribed to selective processes (adaptation) or to processes other than selection or selection for a function that is different from the current function (exaptation).
area cladogram
asexual reproduction
associative overdominance The phenomenon by which the linkage of a neutral locus to a selectively maintained polymorphism causes the heterozygosity of the neutral locus to increase.
assortative mating Also called positive assortative mating and homogamy. A mating system in which individuals with similar phenotypes mate with each other more frequently than would be expected in a completely random mating system. Assortative mating usually has the effect of increasing genetic relatedness between members of the mating population. Contrast disassortative mating.
atavism A modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral trait suddenly reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in a number of different ways, including by the re-expression of latent genes for ancestral phenotypes as a result of mutation, or by the shortening or prolongation of the time allocated for the ontogenesis of a particular trait during development.
autapomorphy
autoallopolyploid
autopolyploid
autozygote A cell or organism that is homozygous for a locus at which the two homologous alleles are identical by descent, both having been derived from a single gene in a common ancestor. Contrast allozygote.
B
back mutation A mutation that reverses the effect of a previous mutation which had inactivated a gene, thus restoring wild-type function. See also reverse mutation.
backcrossing Also testcrossing. The breeding of a hybrid organism with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to one of its parents, often intentionally as a type of selective breeding, with the aim of producing offspring with a genetic identity which is closer to that of the parent. The reproductive event and the resulting progeny are both referred to as a backcross, often abbreviated in genetics shorthand with the symbol BC.
balancer chromosome
Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model Also simply called the Dobzhansky–Muller model. An evolutionary model of the genetic incompatibility that occurs as a result of negative epistatic interactions between two or more genes or alleles with different evolutionary histories, which may meet when distinct populations hybridize. The incompatible genes or alleles themselves, referred to as Dobzhansky–Muller incompatibilities, may be the result of random or neutral mutations, or they may be specific adaptations driven by natural selection. By preventing populations from successfully interbreeding, these incompatibilities can reinforce reproductive isolation and thereby increase the chance of speciation.
behavioral isolation
biogeography The scientific study of the spatial distributions of biological organisms, populations, and species. It includes the study of both extinct and extant organisms.
biological constraints
biological species concept
bottleneck See population bottleneck.
C
canalisation The ability of a population to consistently produce the same phenotype regardless of the variability of its environment or the genetic variation within its genome. The concept is most often used in developmental biology to interpret the observation that developmental pathways are frequently shaped by natural selection such that developing cell lineages are "guided" or "canalized" towards a single, definite fate, becoming progressively more resistant to any minor perturbations that may redirect development of the cells away from their initial course.
carrier An individual who has inherited a recessive allele for a genetic trait or mutation but in whom the trait is not usually expressed or observable in the phenotype. Carriers are usually heterozygous for the recessive allele and therefore still able to pass the allele onto their offspring, where the associated phenotype may reappear if the offspring inherits another copy of the allele. The term is commonly used in medical genetics in the context of a disease-causing recessive allele.
centrifugal speciation A variation of peripatric speciation in which speciation occurs by geographic isolation, but reproductive isolation evolves in the larger population instead of the peripherally isolated population.
cGAS–STING pathway
character displacement The phenomenon by which differences between similar species that occupy similar niches and have partially overlapping geographic distributions are accentuated in regions where the species co-occur but are minimized or lost where the species' distributions do not overlap. This occurs because competition between the similar species for one or more limited resources drives evolutionary change that differentiates the species in the common geographic areas such that they no longer occupy the same niche, thereby allowing them to coexist and avoiding competitive exclusion.
chimerism The presence of two or more populations of cells with distinct genotypes within the body of an individual organism, known as a chimera, which has developed from the fusion of cells originating from separate zygotes; each population of cells retains its own genome, such that the organism as a whole is a mixture of genetically non-identical tissues. Genetic chimerism may be inherited (e.g. by the fusion of multiple embryos during pregnancy) or acquired after birth (e.g. by allogeneic transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs from a genetically non-identical donor); in plants, it can result from grafting or errors in cell division. It is similar to but distinct from mosaicism.
chromosomal speciation
chromosome A nuclear DNA molecule containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. Chromosomes may be considered a sort of molecular "package" for carrying DNA within the nucleus of cells and, in most eukaryotes, are composed of long strands of DNA coiled with packaging proteins which bind to and condense the strands to prevent them from becoming an unmanageable tangle. Chromosomes are most easily distinguished and studied in their completely condensed forms, which only occur during cell division. Some simple organisms have only one circular chromosome, while most eukaryotes have multiple linear chromosomes.
chronospecies
cistron
clade Also called a monophyletic group. A phylogenetic grouping of organisms that consists of a single common ancestor and all of its lineal descendants, and which by definition is monophyletic. The common ancestor may be an individual organism, a population, a species, or any other taxon; any and all members of a clade may be extant or extinct. Clades can be visualized with cladograms and are the basis of cladistics.
cladistics An approach to biological classification in which organisms are grouped in clades defined by shared ancestry; hypothesized relationships between organisms are typically based on shared derived characters which can be traced to the most recent common ancestor and are not present in more distant ancestors or unrelated groups.
cladogenesis The splitting of a single species lineage within a phylogeny into multiple lineages.
cladogram
classical genetics The branch of genetics based solely on observation of the visible results of reproductive acts, as opposed to that made possible by the modern techniques and methodologies of molecular biology. Contrast molecular genetics.
cline A measurable spatial gradient in a single biological character or trait of a species or population across its geographic range. The nature of a cline may be genotypic (e.g. variation in allele frequency) or phenotypic (e.g. variation in body size or pigmentation), and may show smooth, continuous gradation or abrupt changes between different geographic regions.
cloning The process of producing, either naturally or artificially, individual organisms or cells which are genetically identical to each other. Clones are the result of all forms of asexual reproduction, and cells that undergo mitosis produce daughter cells that are clones of the parent cell and of each other. Cloning may also refer to biotechnology methods which artificially create copies of organisms or cells, or, in molecular cloning, copies of DNA fragments or other molecules.
cluster analysis
clustering
co-operation
coadaptation The mutual adaptation of organisms belonging to different populations or species, of different parts of the same organism, or of genes at different loci in the same genome, especially implying that adaptation in both entities is driven by the same evolutionary force.
codominance
coevolution The process by which two or more distinct populations, species, or other groups of organisms, or two or more distinct traits within a species, reciprocally affect each other's evolution through natural selection. Each party in a coevolutionary relationship exerts selective pressures upon the other, leading to the evolution of separate traits in each party.
cohesion species concept
colonization The spread of a population to a new geographic area.
common ancestor An organism or taxon (e.g. a species) which is hypothesized to be the lineal progenitor of two or more organisms or taxa which exist at a later point in evolutionary time. The concept of common descent is fundamental to the study of evolution, phylogenetics, and cladistics; for instance, all clades, by definition, are rooted in a common ancestor. See also most recent common ancestor.
competitive gametic isolation
complex trait See quantitative trait.
congruent clines
consanguineous (of two or more individuals) Closely genetically related; sharing a recent common ancestor (usually no more than three or four generations distant). The effect of consanguineous mating, also known as inbreeding, is to increase the probability that the progeny will be homozygous at any given pair of genetic loci.
conservation genetics An interdisciplinary branch of population genetics which applies genetic methods and concepts in an effort to understand the dynamics of genes in populations, with a principal aim of avoiding extinctions and preserving and restoring biodiversity.
conspecific Belonging to the same species.
convergent evolution Also convergence. The independent evolution of similar traits or adaptations in two or more different taxa from different periods or epochs in time, creating analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those taxa; e.g. structures enabling flight evolved independently in at least four distinct lineages: insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats. In cladistics, the same phenomenon is termed homoplasy. Contrast divergent evolution.
copulatory behavioral isolation
coupling
court jester hypothesis
cospeciation A type of speciation in which more than two species speciate concurrently due to their ecological associations (e.g. host-parasite interactions).
crossbreeding Also crossing and outbreeding. The breeding of purebred parents belonging to two different breeds, varieties, or populations, often intentionally as a type of selective breeding, with the aim of producing offspring which share traits of both parent lineages or which show heterosis. In animal breeding, the progeny of a cross between breeds of the same species is called a crossbreed, whereas the progeny of a cross between different species is called a hybrid.
crown group
cryptic species
cytoplasmic isolation
D
Darwinism Also Darwinian theory and Darwinian evolution. The understanding of biological evolution as developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin and others, which states that all biological organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Colloquially, the term is sometimes used to refer more broadly to modern evolutionary theory as a whole, though in scientific circles distinctions are usually made between Darwin's ideas and later additions to evolutionary biology.
de novo mutation A spontaneous mutation in the genome of an individual organism that is new to that organism's lineage, having first appeared in a germ cell of one of the organism's parents or in the fertilized egg that develops into the organism; i.e. a mutation that was not present in either parent's genome.
de-extinction
derived trait Also derived character, advanced character, and advanced trait. For a given clade, any trait or feature (e.g. a specific phenotype) that is present within one or more subgroups of the clade but not in the clade's common ancestor. Derived traits show significant differences from the original "primitive" condition of an ancestral trait found in the common ancestor, implying that the trait has undergone extensive adaptation during the clade's evolutionary history to reach its derivative condition. Both terms are relative: a derived trait for one clade may be an ancestral trait for a different clade. The term "derived trait" is often used interchangeably with the more technical term apomorphy.
descendant
developmental biology
diploid Denoted in shorthand with the somatic number 2n. (of a cell or organism) Having two homologous copies of each chromosome. Contrast haploid and polyploid.
directional selection Also positive selection. A mode of natural selection in which an extreme trait or phenotype is favored over other phenotypes, causing allele frequencies to shift over time in the direction of that trait or phenotype. This shift can occur whether or not the alleles governing the extreme phenotype are dominant or recessive.
directional speciation
disassortative mating Also negative assortative mating and heterogamy. A mating system in which individuals with dissimilar phenotypes mate with each other more frequently than would be expected in a completely random mating system. Disassortative mating usually has the effect of decreasing genetic relatedness between members of the mating population. Contrast assortative mating.
dispersal
disruptive selection Also diversifying selection. A mode of natural selection in which the extreme values of a trait or phenotype within a breeding population are favored over intermediate values, causing allele frequencies to shift over time away from the intermediate. This causes the variance in the trait to increase and results in the population dividing into two distinct groups, each with trait values at one end of the trait's distribution curve.
divergence-with-gene-flow
divergent evolution Also divergence. The process by which any phenotypic or genotypic distinction emerges between two different populations or evolutionary lineages. Divergence may occur by any of a variety of mechanisms but is often especially noticeable after the two lineages have been reproductively isolated for many generations.
diversification
Dobzhansky–Muller model See Bateson–Dobzhansky–Muller model.
dominance A relationship between the alleles of a gene in which one allele produces an effect on phenotype that overpowers or "masks" the contribution of another allele at the same locus; the first allele and its associated phenotypic trait are said to be dominant, and the second allele and its associated trait are said to be recessive. Often, the dominant allele codes for a functional protein while its recessive counterpart does not. Dominance is not an inherent property of any allele or phenotype, but simply describes its relationship to one or more other alleles or phenotypes; it is possible for one allele to be simultaneously dominant over a second allele, recessive to a third, and codominant to a fourth. In genetics shorthand, dominant alleles are often represented by a single uppercase letter (e.g. "A", in contrast to the recessive "a").
dosage compensation Any mechanism by which organisms neutralize the large difference in gene dosage caused by the presence of differing numbers of sex chromosomes in the different sexes, thereby equalizing the expression of sex-linked genes so that the members of each sex receive the same or similar amounts of the products of such genes. An example is X-inactivation in female mammals.
E
ecogeographic isolation
ecological allopatry
ecological character displacement
ecological genetics The study of genetics as it pertains to the ecology and fitness of natural populations of living organisms.
ecological isolation
ecological niche See niche.
ecological speciation A type of speciation in which reproductive isolation is caused by the interaction of individuals of a species with their environment.
ecological species concept
emergenesis The quality of genetic traits that results from a specific configuration of interacting genes, rather than simply their combination.
endemism The ecological state of a species being unique to a single geographic location, such as an island, nation, country, or any other clearly defined area, or to a single habitat type.
environmental gradient
epigenetics
epistasis The collective action of multiple genes interacting during gene expression. A form of gene action, epistasis can be either additive or multiplicative in its effects on specific phenotypic traits.
error catastrophe The extinction of a population of organisms (insofar as the population can be defined by one or more identifiable characteristics) as a result of the excessive accumulation of genetic mutations, such that the population loses self-identity because all of its mutated descendants lack the identifiable characteristics.
ethological isolation
ethological pollinator isolation
euploidy The condition of a cell or organism having an abnormal number of complete sets of chromosomes, possibly excluding the sex chromosomes. Euploidy differs from aneuploidy, in which a cell or organism has an abnormal number of one or more specific individual chromosomes.
evolution The phenomenon by which the heritable characteristics of biological populations change over successive generations. Evolution occurs when processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on the variation in characteristics that exists between members of a population, resulting in certain characteristics becoming more or less common within the population.
evolutionary arms race The positive feedback mechanism operating between competing sets of co-evolving genes, traits, species, or other taxa which evolve specific adaptations and counter-adaptations due to each other's presence, which may be seen as analogous with an "arms race".
evolutionary biology The discipline of biology that studies the evolution of biological organisms and the processes by which it operates, including natural selection, adaptation, common descent, and speciation. A core element of the modern synthesis, evolutionary biology integrates concepts from genetics, systematics, ecology, paleontology, developmental biology, and numerous other fields.
evolutionary landscape
evolutionary species concept
exaptation
expressivity For a given genotype associated with a variable non-binary phenotype, the proportion of individuals with that genotype who show or express the phenotype to a specified extent, usually given as a percentage. Because of the many complex interactions that govern gene expression, the same allele may produce a wide variety of possible phenotypes of differing qualities or degrees in different individuals; in such cases, both the phenotype and genotype may be said to show variable expressivity. Expressivity attempts to quantify the range of possible levels of phenotypic variation in a population of individuals expressing the phenotype of interest. Compare penetrance.
extant Currently living or existing; still in existence and not extinct. The term is generally used to refer to the present-day state of existence of a particular taxon (such as a family, genus, species, etc.).
extended evolutionary synthesis
extinction
extrinsic hybrid inviability
extrinsic postzygotic isolation
F
fitness The reproductive success, or propensity to produce offspring, during the lifetime of an individual
fixation The process by which a single allele for a particular gene with multiple alleles increases in frequency in a given population such that it becomes permanently established as the only allele at that locus within the population's gene pool. How long fixation takes depends on selection pressures and chance fluctuations in allele frequencies.
floral isolation
flowering asynchrony
forward genetics An experimental approach in molecular genetics in which a researcher starts with a specific known phenotype and attempts to determine the genetic basis of that phenotype by any of a variety of laboratory techniques, commonly by inducing random mutations in the organism's genome and then screening for changes in the phenotype of interest. Observed phenotypic changes are assumed to have resulted from the mutation(s) present in the screened sample, which can then be mapped to specific genomic loci and ultimately to one or more specific candidate genes. This methodology contrasts with reverse genetics, in which a specific gene or its gene product is individually manipulated in order to identify the gene's function.
founder effect The loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new, physically isolated population is established by a very small number of individuals who have migrated from a larger population and are not fully representative of the larger population's genetic diversity. As a result, the new population is often distinctively different, both genotypically and phenotypically, from the parent population. Besides migration, population bottlenecks can also result in a type of founder effect; extreme founder effects can lead to speciation.
founder event
founder-flush-crash
founder takes all A hypothesis that describes the evolutionary advantages of the first-arriving lineages in a new ecosystem. An example could be when a species becomes reproductively isolated on an island, as in peripatric speciation.
fugitive species A species that only temporarily occupies environments or habitats (either because its members frequently migrate or because its environments frequently change) and so does not persist for many generations at any one site.
G
gametic isolation
gene Any segment or set of segments of a nucleic acid molecule that contains the information necessary to produce a functional RNA transcript in a controlled manner. Genes are often considered the fundamental units of heredity and are typically encoded in DNA. A particular gene can have multiple different versions, or alleles, and a single gene may influence many different phenotypes.
gene dosage The number of copies of a particular gene present in a genome. Gene dosage directly influences the amount of gene product a cell is able to express, though a variety of controls have evolved which tightly regulate gene expression. Changes in gene dosage caused by mutations include copy-number variations.
gene drive
gene duplication Also gene amplification. A type of mutation defined as any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene. Compare chromosomal duplication.
gene expression The set of processes by which the information encoded in a gene is used in the synthesis of a gene product, such as a protein or non-coding RNA, or otherwise made available to influence one or more phenotypes. Expression at the molecular level canonically consists of transcription and translation, though the information contained within a DNA sequence need not necessarily be transcribed and translated to exert an influence on molecular events, however; broader definitions encompass a huge variety of other ways in which genetic information can be expressed.
gene flow The transfer of genetic variation from one population to another, by any available means, e.g. by sexual reproduction, horizontal gene transfer, or retroviral integration.
gene pool The sum of all of the various alleles shared by the members of a single population.
gene product Any of the biochemical material resulting from the expression of a gene, most commonly interpreted as the functional mRNA transcript produced by transcription of the gene or the fully constructed protein produced by translation of the transcript, though non-coding RNA molecules such as transfer RNAs may also be considered gene products.
genealogical species concept
generation 1. In any given organism, a single reproductive cycle, or the phase between two consecutive reproductive events, i.e. between an individual organism's reproduction and that of the progeny of that reproduction; or the actual or average length of time required to complete a single reproductive cycle, either for a particular lineage or for a population or species as a whole. 2. In a given population, those individuals (often but not necessarily living contemporaneously) who are equally removed from a given common ancestor by virtue of the same number of reproductive events having occurred between them and the ancestor.
genetic association The co-occurrence within a population of one or more alleles or genotypes with a particular phenotypic trait more often than might be expected by chance alone; such statistical correlation may be used to infer that the alleles or genotypes are responsible for producing the given phenotype.
genetic bottleneck See population bottleneck.
genetic counseling The process of advising individuals or families who are affected by or at risk of developing genetic disorders in order to help them understand and adapt to the physiological, psychological, and familial implications of genetic contributions to disease. Genetic counseling integrates genetic testing, genetic genealogy, and genetic epidemiology.
genetic disorder Any illness, disease, or other health problem directly caused by one or more abnormalities in an organism's genome which are congenital (present at birth) and not acquired later in life. Causes may include a mutation to one or more genes, or a chromosomal abnormality such as an aneuploidy of a particular chromosome. The mutation responsible may occur spontaneously during embryonic development or may be inherited from one or both parents, in which case the genetic disorder is also classified as a hereditary disorder. Though the abnormality itself is present before birth, the actual disease it causes may not develop until much later in life; some genetic disorders do not necessarily guarantee eventual disease but simply increase the risk of the organism developing it.
genetic distance A measure of the genetic divergence between species, populations within a species, or individuals, used especially in phylogenetics to express either the time elapsed since the existence of a common ancestor or the degree of differentiation in the DNA sequences comprising the genomes of each population or individual.
genetic diversity Sometimes used interchangeably with genetic variation. The total number of genetic traits or characteristics in the genetic make-up of a population, species, or other group of organisms. It is often used as a measure of the adaptability of a group to changing environments. Genetic diversity is similar to, though distinct from, genetic variability.
genetic drift Also called allelic drift or the Sewall Wright effect. A change in the frequency with which an existing allele occurs in a population due to random variation in the distribution of alleles from one generation to the next. It is often interpreted as the role that random chance plays in determining whether a given allele becomes more or less common with each generation, irrespective of the influence of natural selection. Genetic drift may cause certain alleles, even otherwise advantageous ones, to disappear completely from the gene pool, thereby reducing genetic variation, or it may cause initially rare alleles, even neutral or deleterious ones, to become much more frequent or even fixed.
genetic epidemiology The study of the role played by genetic factors in determining health and disease, in particular through the interaction of genetic factors with environmental factors, and typically as observed in genetically related individuals, often families or lineages but also populations and subpopulations.
genetic erosion
genetic genealogy The use of genealogical DNA testing in combination with traditional genealogical methods to infer the level and type of genetic relationships between individuals, to find ancestors, and to construct family trees, genograms, or other genealogical charts.
genetic hitchhiking Also genetic draft and the hitchhiking effect. A type of linked selection by which the positive selection of an allele undergoing a selective sweep causes alleles for different genes at nearby loci to change frequency as well, allowing them to "hitchhike" to fixation along with the positively selected allele. If selection at the first locus is strong enough, neutral or even slightly deleterious alleles within the same linkage group may undergo the same positive selection because the physical distance between the nearby loci is small enough that a recombination event is unlikely to occur between them. Genetic hitchhiking is often considered the opposite of background selection.
genetic load Any reduction in the mean fitness of a population owing to the existence of one or more genotypes with lower fitness than that of the most fit genotype.
genetic testing Also DNA testing and genetic screening. A broad class of procedures used to identify features of an individual's particular chromosomes, genes, or proteins in order to determine parentage or ancestry, diagnose vulnerabilities to heritable diseases, or detect mutant alleles associated with increased risks of developing genetic disorders. Genetic testing is widely used in human medicine, agriculture, and biological research.
genetic variability Sometimes used interchangeably with genetic variation. The formation or the presence of individuals differing in genotype within a population or other group of organisms, as opposed to individuals with environmentally induced differences, which cause only temporary, non-heritable changes in phenotype. Barring other limitations, a population with high genetic variability has a greater potential for successful adaptation to changing environmental conditions than a population with low genetic variability. Genetic variability is similar to, though distinct from, genetic diversity.
genetic variation Sometimes used interchangeably with genetic diversity and genetic variability. The genetic differences both within and between populations, species, or other groups of organisms. It is often visualized as the variety of different alleles in the gene pools of different populations.
genetics The field of biology that studies genes, genetic variation, and heredity in living organisms.
genic balance A mechanism of sex determination that depends upon the ratio of the number of X chromosomes (X) to the number of sets of autosomes (A). Males develop when the X/A ratio is 0.5 or less, females when it is 1.0 or more, and an intersex develops when it is between 0.5 and 1.0.
genic selection A type of natural selection that occurs at the level of individual genes or alleles, in which the frequency of an allele within a breeding population is determined by its fitness averaged over the variety of genotypes in which it occurs; the differential propagation of different alleles within a population as a consequence of properties borne by the alleles themselves, rather than by the genotypes in which they are found.
genic speciation
genome The entire complement of genetic material contained within the chromosomes of an organism, organelle, or virus. The term is also used to refer to the collective set of genetic loci shared by every member of a population or species, regardless of the different alleles that may be present at these loci in different individuals.
genomics An interdisciplinary field that studies the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of entire genomes, as opposed to individual genes.
genotype The entire complement of alleles present in a particular individual's genome, which gives rise to the individual's phenotype.
genotype frequency The frequency or proportion of a population having a given genotype. Compare allele frequency.
genotypic cluster species
geographic speciation
germ cell Any cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually. Germ cells are the vessels for the genetic material which will ultimately be passed on to the organism's descendants and are usually distinguished from somatic cells, which are entirely separate from the germ line.
germ line 1. In multicellular organisms, the population of cells which are capable of passing on their genetic material to the organism's progeny and are therefore (at least theoretically) distinct from somatic cells, which cannot pass on their genetic material except to their own immediate mitotic daughter cells. Cells of the germ line are called germ cells. 2. The lineage of germ cells, spanning many generations, that contains the genetic material which has been passed on to an individual from its ancestors.
grade
gradualism Continuous evolutionary change within a species lineage. See also phyletic gradualism.
green-beard effect
H
habitat isolation
Haldane's rul