Question

A strain of asexually reproducing heterotrophic bacteria produce 200,000 genetically identical individuals be a binary fission. If a bacteriophage virus is introduced to the population and half of the individuals are killed by infection, what should we expect to happen to the genetic diversity of the bacterial population

1. The genetic diversity should decrease

2. The genetic diversity should increase

3. The genetic diversity should not be affected

Answer 1

Option 3

The Genetic diversity will not be affected because the bacteria is reproducing asexually by binary fission. In case of asexual reproduction, there is no formation and fusion of gametes and therefore no therefore, no variations between progenies of same parent and also between the parent and the progeny. That's why we call the progeny of a parent as clone. Clone means copy. All the progeny have identical genetic material to their parent cell.

When the virus will infect the bacterial cells, only the number of bacterial cells will decrease. The Genetic diversity will not be affected because all the bacterial cells are identical to each other. They have the same genome.

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