Question

A population of oysters is being studied at the prlq gene to determine if the population is evolving with respect to that gene. the following genotypes have been observed out of a sample of 501 oysters: qq = 61, qq = 202, and qq = 238. given these data of observed genotypes, what is the frequency of allele q, based on the hardy-weinberg equilibrium?

Answer 1

The frequency of allele
`\( q \)` based on the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium is 0.489.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles in a population remains constant unless influenced by factors such as mutation, selection, migration, or genetic drift. The equation to calculate allele frequencies is
`\( p + q = 1 \), where \( p \)` is the frequency of allele
`\( P \)` and
`\( q \)` is the frequency of allele
`\( q \).` In a population of diploid organisms like oysters, the genotype frequencies can be expressed as
`\( p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1 \),` where
`\( p^2 \)` is the frequency of homozygous dominant individuals,
`\( 2pq \)`is the frequency of heterozygotes, and
`\( q^2 \)` is the frequency of homozygous recessive individuals.

Given the observed genotypes
`\( qq = 61, qq = 202, \) and \( qq = 238 \)`out of a sample of 501 oysters, we can calculate the allele frequencies. The total number of alleles in the population is
`\( 2 * 501 = 1002 \).` The frequency of allele
`\( q \)`is then calculated as
`\( \frac{{2 * \text{{number of }} qq}}{{\text{{total alleles}}}} \), which results in \( q = 0.489 \).`

Understanding allele frequencies is crucial in population genetics as deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can indicate the presence of evolutionary forces influencing the genetic makeup of a population.

Answer 2

To calculate the frequency of allele q, divide the number of homozygous recessive genotypes by the total population, take the square root to find q, and then apply the Hardy-Weinberg formula p + q = 1 to verify the values and frequencies.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the frequency of the allele q in the population of oysters using the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, we need to follow the formula p² + 2pq + q² = 1, where p and q represent the frequency of the dominant and recessive alleles, respectively. In this case, we have the genotype frequencies for qq (homozygous recessive) as 61, pq (heterozygous) as 202, and pp (homozygous dominant) as 238 in a population of 501 oysters.

First, we calculate the frequency of the homozygous recessive genotype (qq) by dividing the number of recessive genotypes (61) by the total number of oysters (501). This gives q² = 61/501. To find q, we take the square root of this fraction. After calculating q, we can use p + q = 1 to find p, and then use 2pq to determine the frequency of the heterozygous genotype.