Chapter 15.9, Problem 1LO

Summary Introduction

To explain: The effects of different point mutations.

Introduction: The frequency of an allele refers to the incidence of a particular gene variant present in the population. The variant forms of a particular gene located at the same genetic locus or position on a chromosome are regarded as alleles. Allele frequencies in a population reflect its genetic diversity. The five agents of evolution are natural selection, gene flow, mutation, genetic drift, and random mating. These factors can alter the allele frequencies in a population. The mutation is the only possible way to introduce new alleles in a population. The proportions of specific alleles in a population can be altered by mutation from an allele.