What does it mean if the allele frequency in a population consistently changes?

1 Answer
Mandira P.
Jul 26, 2017

When allele frequency in a population consistently changes it means the population is evolving.

Explanation:

Evolution is defined as a change in frequency of alleles in a gene pool over a period of time. This is evolution on a small scale, hence could be termed microevoluion.

  1. This could be due to addition of new alleles through gene flow, or due to mutation.

  2. The reason could also be selection of favourable alleles. Frequency of favourable alleles will increase gradually within a population due to natural selection.

  3. Allele frequency may also change in a small newly established population due to an initial sampling error when some alleles were lost for ever by chance i.e. due to genetic drift.

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