Question

The frequency of recessive deleterious allele q is 0.09 in a population of fruit flies. You examine many individuals over many generations and measure that the mutation rate of (p) to (q) is 0.0003. What would the strength of selection against the q allele need to be for the frequency of q=0.06 to be maintained by selection-mutation balance?

-0.14

-0.19

-0.37

-0.62

Answer 1

To maintain a frequency of q=0.06 through selection-mutation balance, the strength of selection against the q allele needs to be approximately 0.3333.

Answers are close in value 0.37 (option 3)

Step-by-step explanation:

In order to maintain a frequency of q=0.06 through selection-mutation balance, we need to calculate the strength of selection against the q allele. We can use the equation q' = q(1 - s), where q' is the new frequency of the q allele, q is the initial frequency of the q allele (0.09), and s is the selection coefficient.

Given that q' = 0.06, we can rearrange the equation to solve for s:

s = (q - q') / q = (0.09 - 0.06) / 0.09 = 0.03 / 0.09 = 0.3333.

Therefore, the strength of selection against the q allele needs to be approximately 0.3333 for the frequency of q=0.06 to be maintained by selection-mutation balance.

Answers are close in value 0.37 (option 3)