Genetics with Basics of Selection - M.P. Myhun - 2008

CHAPTER VI. Population Genetics

6.2. Methods for Studying Population Structure

Population-genetic research employs the entire arsenal of Methods available in genetics: hybridological, cytogenetic, biochemical, molecular-genetic, ecophysiological, and mathematical. Investigating the genetic Structure of a population, as well as the shifts (or dynamics) of this structure under specific conditions, can be approached through various methods depending on the research subjects and objectives. Of particular importance are methods that enable the identification of the allelic composition of Gene loci in individuals within a population, as this is how the degree of Selection/32.html">Genetic heterogeneity of a population is determined. In diploid organisms of Mendelian populations, recessive alleles are predominantly in a heterozygous state and largely remain unexpressed in the phenotype. To detect them, detailed hybridological analysis is necessary. Given that Population Genetics deals neither with pure lines nor with individual crosses, but rather with inheritance across large populations of genetically heterogeneous organisms, classical hybridological analysis cannot always be applied. Therefore, alongside classical hybridological methods, biochemical and molecular-genetic studies are utilized, offering A number of advantages in analyzing the phenotypic and genotypic features of population members, enabling rapid mass screening, and facilitating The Use of computer technology.

Population genetics utilizes the following approaches:

Electrophoretic Separation of Proteins and Nucleic Acids. The principle behind this method is that the presence of a mutant gene in the genotype alters The structure of the corresponding DNA fragment and its downstream gene products, thereby changing their physicochemical properties.

+ PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based methods - modern techniques for detecting DNA polymorphism.