What could be the possible result of founder effect on genetic variation?

Question

What could be the possible result of founder effect on genetic variation?

Answer 1

The founder effect is a term for when a small sample of organisms reproduces and leads to a new population. For example, if we took two foxes and brought them to an island and they established a new fox population where there was none before.

 

What does this mean for the genetic variation of that population? Every fox on that island hereafter is limited to the genes present in those two parent. Differences due to mutation are slow and random, and so the variation is limited. 

Answer 2

Hi Laureano,

 

Founder effect is a phenomenon of establishing a new colony  made up of only few individuals from original population. In such situation, only a small number of alleles in selected founding members of new population will be present in new population and therefore there would be decline in genetic variation when this population grows. The original population will be rich in genetic variation but the new population would be limited due to small number individuals that establish this new population with small allele pool.

 

Hope this helps.