In a Population That Is Polymorphic for Sexual/asexual Reproduction, a Sexually

question 45

Multiple Choice

In a population that is polymorphic for sexual/asexual reproduction, a sexually transmitted disease has just eliminated most of the sexually reproducing individuals. When you expose samples of asexuals and sexuals from this population to harsh environmental conditions in the lab, you discover that the sexual individuals are worse at adapting to the new environment than the asexual individuals. (Note that your lab population is free from the sexually transmitted disease.) Which of the following statements is a likely explanation for your results?

• A) All asexually reproducing strains independently acquired the same beneficial mutation that offset the advantage of the sexuals.
• B) The bottleneck caused by the disease resulted in the fixation of many alleles in the sexually reproducing population.
• C) Asexuals are favored under harsh environmental conditions.
• D) The results support standard evolutionary theory.

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Definitions:

Critical Value

A threshold value used in hypothesis testing, which, when exceeded by the test statistic, results in the rejection of the null hypothesis.

Independent-Samples T Test

A statistical test used to compare the means of two independent groups to determine if there is a statistically significant difference between them.

Male and Female Patients

Male and Female Patients refers to the classification of patients based on their gender, a common demographic variable considered in medical and health research.

Obtained Value

The actual value or result measured or calculated from an experiment or survey.