Question

A population of snapdragons has 157 plants with white flowers (aa), 298 plants with pink flowers (Aa), and 844 plants with red flowers (AA). What are G(aa), G(Aa), and G(AA)?

And calculate the allele frequencies p (for A) and q (for a) for this population of snapdragons.

Answer 1

In the population of snapdragons, the genotypic frequencies are as follows: G(aa) = 0.1209, G(Aa) = 0.2294, and G(AA) = 0.6497.

The allele frequencies for the same population are p = 0.7645 (for A) and q = 0.2355 (for a).

Step-by-step explanation:

The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium equation is used to calculate the genotypic frequencies and allele frequencies in the population of snapdragons. The frequency of the dominant allele (A) is represented by p, whereas the frequency of the recessive allele (a) is represented by q. The formula is as follows: p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1

Given that there are 157 white-flowered plants (aa), 298 pink-flowered plants (aa), and 844 red-flowered plants (AA), the genotypic frequencies are as follows:

G(aa) = number of aa individuals / total number of individuals

= 157 / (157 + 298 + 844)

= 157 / 1299

= 0.1209 (approx)

G(Aa) = number of Aa individuals / total number of individuals

= 298 / (157 + 298 + 844)

= 298 / 1299

= 0.2294 (approx)

G(AA) = number of AA individuals / total number of individuals

= 844 / (157 + 298 + 844)

= 844 / 1299

= 0.6497 (approx)

Now, to calculate the allele frequencies from the given data:

p = frequency of A allele = G(AA) + (0.5 * G(Aa))

= 0.6497 + (0.5 * 0.2294)

= 0.7645 (approx)

q = frequency of a allele = G(aa) + (0.5 * G(Aa))

= 0.1209 + (0.5 * 0.2294)

= 0.2355 (approx)