How does inbreeding negatively impact a population?
Correct answer: D. All of these.
- A. The frequency of alleles does not change within the population.
- B. It reduces the number of heterozygous individuals, preventing beneficial alleles from being efficiently selected.
- C. It increases the number of homozygous individuals, allowing potentially harmful recessive alleles to express themselves more frequently.
- D. All of these.
Explanation
Inbreeding does not alter the allele frequency. In this way, it does not allow the individual to adapt to its environment by changing its genotype. Hence, it hinders the process of natural selection and evolution. Inbreeding reduces the number of heterozygotes. In this way, beneficial alleles are not selected and passed on to the next generation. Hence, favorable traits are not inherited for the better survival of the next generation. It increases the number of homozygotes. In this way, unfavorable alleles are allowed to pass on and express in the next generations, which reduces their survival chances and also restricts them from adapting to their local conditions.
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About Evolution
Evolution describes heritable change in populations over generations through variation, natural selection and adaptation. Lamarckism explains inheritance of acquired characteristics, while Darwinism explains selection of favourable inherited variations; these historical explanations must not be confused with the modern genetic account of evolutionary change.
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