A novel fungicide is introduced and widely applied to cereal crops. After five y

Question

A novel fungicide is introduced and widely applied to cereal crops. After five years, resistant genotypes of the fungal pathogen are detected at a frequency of about 1%; resistance is widely distributed across the pathogen’s range. Within two years, these have become so common that the fungicide becomes worthless.

Explain how this pattern can be explained by the basic features of natural selection. Include in your answer:

A brief description of what natural selection is.

The conditions that must be met in order for natural selection to occur.

How natural selection explains the scenario above.

-Please Reference sources

Explanation / Answer

Natural selection is Charles Darwin's most famous theory.

It ststes that for evolution to occur, the production of variation in each generation is required all of which have differential survival and reproduction rates due to differences in phenotype.

The conditions that must be met are:

Some of the differences between individuals are inherited differences and not due to differences in their environments.

More individuals are actually born than can survive

The reason at least some of the survivors make it is owing to the traits that they inherited from their parents-beneficial traits.

In the above scenario, after five years, 1% resistant fungal pathogens are detected. These resistant pathogens have the beneficial trait that allows them to survive in the presence of the fungicide. The sensitive pathogens are all killed. The resistant pathogens are able to pass on the beneficial trait to their progenies. And as they divide at an astonishing rate, within two more years the resistant pathogens have spread out so much that they are common and this particular variety of fungicide becomes worthless.

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