This course explores the ecological and evolutionary factors that influence the genetic structure of populations. The course covers:

• The range of molecular techniques available for identifying genetic variation within and among populations and the associated statistical tools used by population geneticists to unlock biological secrets about plants and animals.
• Data sets illustrating both the statistical procedures and the biological meaning will be drawn from plants, birds and mammals.
• The impact of selection on genetic variation. Bacteria are used as examples to illustrate the concepts and principles underlying this part of the course.
• The Neutral Theory of Evolution and compare the fate of generic variation that is subject to selection to variation that has little effect on the fitness of an organism.
• Processes influencing the genetic structure of a bacterial species.
• Role that ecological factors play in shaping the genetic structure of a bacterial species.
• Identify the nature of the fitness advantage conferred by a trait.
• Problems in determining the adaptive significance of a trait.
• The nature of frequency dependent selection.
• Highlight the applied significance of many of the concepts presented in the course. The final section of the course begins with a
• Brief overview on life histories of fungi, and how it differs from plants and bacteria.
• Population biology and evolution of haploid fungi that are pathogenic on cultivated crops.
• Explore techniques to examine the ecology and evolution of native plant - native fungal pathogen interactions. 
• The role of evolutionary forces eg. gene flow (migration) and the reproductive system will be discussed and their impact on disease development, epidemiology and distribution of fungal plant pathogens examined with appropriate statistical tests.

Note: Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but are assessed separately.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Understand and describe the range of molecular laboratory techniques and standard statistical analyses for investigating population genetic variation
2. Explain the ecological and evolutionary factors that influence the genetic structure of populations
3. Perform statistical analysis of population genetic data under limited supervision, and summarise and interpret the outcomes in written and oral form
4. Search the literature to identify papers relevant to the biological data sets provided for statistical analysis and integrate and evaluate the findings in written form

Assessment will be based on:

• Computer based tutorial reports demonstrating competent use of the software, understanding and meaningful interpretation of the analysis outcomes in relation to the theory (LO 1-3)
• Reports demonstrating literature search skills, critical evaluation and synthesis of topics relevant to both the practical and theory components of the course (LO 1-4)

Two hours of lectures per week, and two hours of self-paced computer-based tutorial sessions per week.

Bachelor of Science or equivalent with a major in the field of biological sciences with relevant experience or academic achievement. 

First year Biology, first year Genetics and first year Statistics are recommended. 

First year Chemistry is desirable.