Ecological genetics

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Ecological genetics is that aspect of genetics that specifically arises from ecological issues.

Differentiation from neighboring disciplines

While genetics today primarily examines the molecular structures and functions of genes, and is therefore often referred to as molecular genetics, ecological genetics is devoted to the composition and change of DNA and generally to the genetic basis in natural populations. On the one hand, it encompasses the genetics of populations ( population genetics ) and, on the other hand, the aspects of phylogeography , speciation and the genetic composition of entire (mainly microbial) communities ( metagenomics , environmental genomics).

Research content

Important content is the study of the genetic basis of phenotypic changes in natural populations as well as changes that relate to the fitness of the populations and to the survival or reproduction rates of the individuals in natural populations. In many cases, significant changes can be observed over the course of successive generations, which can be the result of selection , adaptation or accidental genetic drift . Phenomena of hybridization between closely related species, backcrosses and gene introgression can also occur. For practical reasons, studies have been and are often carried out on insects, e.g. B. Drosophila , and on other rapidly reproducing organisms such as water fleas ( Daphnia ).

The contents of ecological genetics often merge into those of molecular ecology . Both terms describe fundamentally similar questions. The two disciplines can also be viewed as a sub-area of evolutionary ecology.

history

The British researcher Edmund B. Ford (1901–1988), whose main work Ecological Genetics appeared in 1964, is considered to be one of the founding fathers of ecological genetics . An important ecological geneticist researching in a similar direction was Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975), who worked with Drosophila and placed greater emphasis on the evolutionary aspect (e.g. in his 1955 work: Evolution, Genetics and Man ), and Bernard Kettlewell (1907 –1979), whose studies focused on butterflies, e. B. the genetic basis of the so-called industrial melanism in the birch moth ( Biston betularia ).

literature

  • Arthur J. Cain, William B. Provine: Genes and ecology in history . In: Robert J. Berry, TJ Crawford & Godfrey M. Hewitt (Eds.): Genes in Ecology. The 33rd symposium of the British Ecological Society . Blackwell Scientific, Oxford 1992, pp. 3-28, ISBN 0-632-03504-8 .
  • Jeffrey K. Conner, Daniel L. Hartl: A Primer of Ecological Genetics . Sinauer Books, Sunderland, Mass. 2004, ISBN 0-87893-202-X .
  • Edmund B. Ford: Ecological Genetics . 4th edition Chapman and Hall, London 1975, ISBN 0-412-14130-2 (EA London 1964).