Question

If 23 geese in a population of 142 are white, and 119 are blue, how many of the blue geese would you expect to be carriers of the b allele (i.e., Bb heterozygotes)

Answer 1

This is based on my assumption that white is the recessive trait.

1) find recessive allele frequency

`q^(2)=(23)/(142)\\\\q^(2)=0.161971831\\\\\sqrt{q^(2)}=√(0.161...)\\\\ q=0.4024572412`

2) find dominant allele frequency

`p+q=1\\\\p=1-q\\\\p=1-0.402...\\\\p=0.5975427588`

3) find heterozygous genotypic frequency

`2pq=2(0.597...)(0.0402...)\\\\2pq=0.4809708204`

4) solve

`heterozygous=(142)(0.480...)`

heterozygous = 68.2978565

In a population of 142, around 68 of the geese would be heterozygous.