Polymorphism Hereditary

Hereditary polymorphism: understanding and examples

Hereditary polymorphism is the presence in a population or species of various forms of phenotypic characteristics caused by heterozygosity of individuals for alleles of genes that control the corresponding characteristics. Such polymorphism can manifest itself both in the form of the presence of several morphological, physiological or biochemical forms, and in the form of several alleles of genes that determine the same trait.

Hereditary polymorphism is an important mechanism for maintaining biodiversity in a population and provides it with adaptive flexibility in changing environmental conditions. For example, the presence of different forms of coloration in animals can help them mimic their environment and increase their chances of survival.

One of the most famous examples of hereditary polymorphism is blood group polymorphism in humans. There are three main blood types in humans: A, B and O, which are determined by the presence of different alleles of the gene that encodes proteins on the surface of red blood cells. There is also an AB blood group, which is caused by the presence of both alleles of the gene. The distribution of blood groups in different populations can vary significantly and depends on the history of ethnic migrations and natural selection.

Another example of hereditary polymorphism is the presence of different forms of coloration in butterflies. In butterflies, many species have multiple color patterns, which may be related to both genetic and environmental conditions. For example, the cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) has two color forms - light and dark. The light form of coloration is more common in northern regions where snow lies on the ground during the winter, while the dark form of coloration predominates in southern regions where there is no snow in winter.

Thus, hereditary polymorphism is an important mechanism for preserving biodiversity in nature and is the result of natural selection and mutation processes. The study of hereditary polymorphism in various populations and species allows us to better understand the mechanisms of adaptation of organisms to changing environmental conditions and develop methods for preserving biodiversity.

Population Polymorphisms and Definitions The genetic theory of evolution assumes that a population of organisms has a defined structure, consisting of numerous genetic variants of individuals. This structure is called the gene pool. Any heritable variations are elements of the phenopool - the actual structure of the population, which is determined by two main factors - the number and set of genes of each individual.

The term "polymorphic" is often applied to the presence of different heritable variants that can be found in a given individual or population. Any generation of any living organism is represented by short time intervals between its conception and death. Therefore, in the study of certain characteristics of a population, it is necessary to use knowledge about the rate of change of a given offspring in the present and past.

With so many inherited forms, it is difficult to determine the numbers of different conditions. When populations are so small and the number of individuals present is so different from the overall population measure, the condition is considered analytically impossible. For this reason, the use of quantitative type relationships (for example, fluctuations in the heritable difference in measures among different individuals) is unreliable and subject to a huge number of errors. This circumstance led to the development of the theory of genetic criteria.

Thus, any observation of a population of organisms indicates that variability exists among their heritable traits. Some of them are sometimes included in the concept of “weak” or “dependent” polymorphisms, which can also be classified as genetic. Those individuals that lack statistically significant deterministic properties do not correspond to their genetic predestination. They are quite characteristic of a specific condition within a population. Weak or dependent polymorphisms are complex sets of factors superimposed on a common set of connections that determine the heritability of a trait. Polygeny is a form of hereditary variation in which the same individual can exhibit different alleles of the same gene.