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Antibiotic Selection

Antibiotic Selection

What is Natural Selection?

What is Natural Selection?

Natural selection is an evolutionary process in which individuals with survival-promoting traits reproduce at higher rates. These favorable traits become more common within a population or species. Naturally selected traits initially arise via random genetic mutations. In order for selection to occur, there must be variation within a population, the trait controlling the variation must be heritable, and there must be an evolutionary advantage for variation in the trait.

Gene Flow

Gene Flow

Gene flow is the transfer of genes among populations, resulting from either the dispersal of gametes or from the migration of individuals.

Types of Selection

Types of Selection

Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...

Frequency-dependent Selection

Frequency-dependent Selection

When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.

Gene Families

Gene Families

Gene families consist of groups of genes proposed to have originated from a common ancestor. Typically these arise through events in which a gene or genes are mistakenly duplicated during cell division. Unlike their parent genes (which are subject to selection pressure to maintain function), these gene copies do not need to preserve their sequences and may evolve at a relatively faster rate.
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 12, 2026

A Web-Based Workflow for Selecting Gene- and Tissue-Specific Enhancers

A Web-Based Workflow for Selecting Gene- and Tissue-Specific Enhancers

Published on: July 18, 2025

Gene-culture coevolution under selection.

Hilla Behar¹, Marcus W Feldman¹

¹Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, United States.

Theoretical Population Biology

|April 12, 2018

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study examines how dichotomous phenotypes evolve with genotype-dependent selection. We identify conditions for maintaining genetic and phenotypic diversity using selection coefficients and transmission rates.

Keywords:

Cultural transmission Invasion criteria Pheno-genotypes Polymorphism

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Area of Science:

Population genetics
Evolutionary biology
Quantitative genetics

Background:

Traditional models focus on genetic variance for phenotypic evolution.
Understanding joint genotype-phenotype evolution requires new frameworks.
Dichotomous phenotypes offer a simplified model for complex evolutionary processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the evolutionary dynamics of a dichotomous phenotype controlled by a single multi-allelic locus.
To determine conditions for phenotypic and genotypic polymorphism under genotype-dependent selection.
To reframe classical population genetics questions in terms of selection coefficients and phenotypic transmission rates.

Main Methods:

Mathematical modeling of population genetics.
Analysis of evolutionary dynamics for a multi-allelic locus.
Derivation of conditions for polymorphism based on selection and transmission parameters.

Main Results:

Established conditions for the maintenance of both phenotypic and genotypic polymorphism.
Demonstrated the influence of genotype-dependent selection on evolutionary trajectories.
Quantified the role of phenotypic transmission rates in evolutionary stability.

Conclusions:

The joint evolution of genotypes and phenotypes can be effectively studied using selection coefficients and transmission rates.
This framework provides new insights into the maintenance of diversity in populations.
The model offers a tractable approach to complex evolutionary questions in population genetics.