Biology 454 (158) Evolutionary Genetics

Fall 2007

An introduction to the major principles of

Basic principles are applied to special interest topics in natural history, human biology, agriculture, and conservation. 3 credit hours. Taught in spring, alternate years.

Instructors

Prerequisites

To enroll in this course, you must first obtain a passing grade in Biology 201 and Biology 202 or have received the permission of the instructors. It is assumed that you have had the equivalent of a semester course in biology wherein you learned about Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and were introduced to the forces that cause evolution. A solid background in algebra and genetics is also assumed. Facility with statistics and biochemistry will be helpful, but specific coursework is not required.

Attendance and Preparation for Class

Attendance at lectures is essential if you are to do well in this course. It is also important that you read the assigned material prior to class. You will be called upon to demonstrate your preparation during class, and there may be one or more pop quizzes. Some of the material on the exams may only be presented during class and some may only be presented in the readings, so neither will suffice on its own. You will be provided with learning objectives prior to each section. You will find it helpful to review these regularly.

Textbook and Readings

The textbook for the course is Hartl DL, Clark AG (2007) Principles of Population Genetics, 4th Edition, Sinauer Associates. It is available at Student Stores. Additional assigned articles will be posted on Blackboard.

Grading

Scores will not be curved, but the number of points required for each letter grade will be determined at the end of the course. Undergraduate and graduate students will be graded on independent scales. Problem sets In order to help you keep up with the material as it is presented in class, there will be regular problem sets. Much of evolutionary genetics is mathematical and effective learning requires hands-on pencil and paper exercises. Problem sets will be due at the start of class on the due date. You may obtain an extension up until 24 hrs prior to class, provided you have a compelling reason. Late problem sets will be given half-credit. A number of problems will be assigned for which the answers are available in the back of the book; you should generally work through these before attempting the graded problems. You are encouraged to study in groups and work together on the ungraded problems. However, answers to all graded problems must be entirely your own work.

Student presentations and research papers

Each student will be give two different 5 minute oral presentations each summarize a recent paper of interest from the primary literature. Early in the course, you will also choose a topic on which to write a ~3000 word research paper using at least three primary research papers. The purpose of this exercise is to hone your skills at research, writing and critical thinking by in-depth examination of a topic in evolutionary genetics. You will receive peer feedback on a draft of your paper before submitting a final, revised version, and you will provide feedback to your classmates. You will be graded on the quality of the draft, the peer review, and the final revisions.

Exams

Exams and quizzes may contain a variety of types of questions. Typically these include vocabulary, problem solving, short answer, and graph or figure interpretations. You will be provided with a sheet of useful equations during the midterm and final exam, and these will be posted on Blackboard in advance so that you will know exactly what you do and donÕt need to memorize. Whether or not an equation is to be memorized, it is important to understand the terms and relationships within each equation, and to know which one to apply to a given problem. You may be provided with more information than is necessary to solve a problem on an exam in order to test your knowledge. You are expected to take the time to think about what the material means, why it is significant, and how it might be applied and generalized. Understanding the concepts, and exercising your own critical thinking, will be vastly more worthwhile for you than memorizing equations or vocabulary. To be consistent with that, exams and other evaluations are designed so that memorization alone will not be sufficient. Questions may ask you to look at information in a way that you may not have seen before, or to synthesize information from different sections. The problem sets will be used to prepare you for these sorts of questions. The choice to administer a take-home exam is entirely at the instructor's discretion. An excused absence from an exam requires an official letter from the DeanÕs office; a documented visit to the health center is not sufficient. When make-up exams are granted, they may be given orally. Honor code You are expected to abide by the UNC honor code and are required to sign the honor pledge on all submitted work.

Schedule and reading assignments

MWF 11:00-11:50 am, Wilson 202

22-Aug Genetic variation H&C Ch.1
24-Aug Hardy-Weinberg equilibirum H&C Ch. 2.1-2.3

27-Aug Linkage disequilibrium H&C Ch. 2.4-2.6
29-Aug Genetic drift H&C Ch. 3.1-3.4
31-Aug Effective population size H&C Ch. 3.5

3-Sep Labor Day Š no class
5-Sep Mutation H&C Ch. 4
7-Sep Coalescence H&C Ch. 3.6-3.7

10-Sep Selection H&C Ch. 5.1-5.4
12-Sep Selection contÕd H&C Ch. 5.5-5.7
14-Sep Inbreeding & population structure H&C Ch. 6.1-6.4

17-Sep Migration H&C Ch 6.4-6.5
19-Sep Shifting balance theory of adaptation
21-Sep Conservation genetics Problem Set 1 due

24-Sep Student presentations
26-Sep Student presentations
28-Sep Student presentations

1-Oct Genetic testing and forensics
3-Oct Review session
5-Oct Midterm 1

8-Oct Quantitative traits H&C Ch 8.1-8.3
10-Oct Contributions of individual loci H&C Ch 8.4
12-Oct Phenotypic variance, covariance & correlations H&C Ch 8.5-8.7

15-Oct The evolution of quantitative traits H&C Ch 8.8
17-Oct Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) H&C Ch 8.9
19-Oct Genetics of domestication

22-Oct Student presentations
24-Oct Student presentations
26-Oct Student presentations

29-Oct Review session Problem Set 2 due
31-Oct University Day Š no class
2-Nov Midterm 2

5-Nov Neutral theory & the molecular clock H&C Ch 7.1-7.3
7-Nov Substitution in DNA and Proteins H&C Ch 7.4
9-Nov Polymorphism and divergence H&C Ch 7.5-7.7

12-Nov Phylogenetics H&C Ch 7.8-7.9
14-Nov Phylogenetics, contÕd.
16-Nov Gene and genome duplication, genome size H&C Ch 7.9, 9.1

19-Nov Transposable elements and selfish DNA H&C 9.5
21-Nov Thanksgiving Break Š no class
23-Nov Thanksgiving Break Š no class

26-Nov Population genomics H&C Ch 9.2-9.4
28-Nov Human population genetics H&C Ch 10
30-Nov The human genome and the HapMap project Problem set 3 due

3-Dec The science and ethics of eugenics
5-Dec Review for Final Exam Papers due

TBA Final Exam