Question

The color distribution for a specific population of snakes is 160 blue, 50 turquoise, and 40 green. The allele for the color blue is represented by Bᴮ, whereas the allele for the color green is represented by Bᴳ. Both alleles demonstrate incomplete dominance. What are the genotype frequencies in the population? Calculate to at least two decimal places.

BᴮBᴮ :
BᴮBᴳ :
BᴳBᴳ :
What is the allele frequency of BB in this population?

Answer 1

The genotype frequencies in the snake population for BᴮBᴮ, BᴮBᵧ, and BᵧBᵧ are 0.64, 0.20, and 0.16 respectively. The allele frequency of Bᴮ is 0.74.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the genotype frequencies for a population where the allele for blue color (Bᴮ) and the allele for green color (Bᵧ) show incomplete dominance, we will use the total number of individuals displaying each color. We have 160 blue (BᴮBᴮ), 50 turquoise (BᴮBᵧ), and 40 green (BᵧBᵧ) snakes. Since turquoise represents the heterozygous genotype, the genotype frequencies can be calculated as follows:

BᴮBᴮ frequency: 160 / (160 + 50 + 40) = 160 / 250 = 0.64

• BᴮBᵧ frequency: 50 / 250 = 0.20
• BᵧBᵧ frequency: 40 / 250 = 0.16

As for the allele frequency of Bᴮ in the population, we need to consider that the heterozygous individuals (BᴮBᵧ) have one Bᴮ allele each, while homozygous blue individuals have two Bᴮ alleles. The frequency of Bᴮ, therefore, can be calculated as:

(2 * number of BᴮBᴮ + number of BᴮBᵧ) / (2 * total population)

(2 * 160 + 50) / (2 * 250) = (320 + 50) / 500 = 370 / 500 = 0.74

The allele frequency of Bᴮ is thus 0.74 or 74% in this population.