Question

A species of fly has two alleles for the length of their legs. The allele for long

legs is dominant, and is represented by p. The allele for short legs is
recessive, and is represented by q. If 12 of 100 organisms have short legs,
what is p?

Answer 1

0.88

Explanation: First know the genotype frequency according to Hardy Weinberg equilibrium which is:

p= homozygous dominance, q= homozygous recessive and 2pq= heterozygous dominance, since the species carries both.

so you want to equate the equation following this respectively,

in our case p ²+q²+2pq=1

we have the value for q which is 12÷100=0.12

to get the value for P= 1- 0.12=0.88.

so your answer is 0.88 based on this equation.

Answer 2

0.65

Step-by-step explanation:

Remember to note the Hardy Weinberg equation of population in equilibrium;

p² + 2pq + q² = 1

q² = 12/100 = 0.12

q = 0.35

Then using the equation that; p + q = 1

p = 1 – q = 1 – 0.35 = 0.65