BIO31 GENE FREQUENCY ASSIGNMENT

1. The frequency of two alleles in a gene pool is 0.19 (A) and 0.81(a). Assume that the population is in
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

(a) Calculate the percentage of heterozygous individuals in the population.

2(0.19)(0.81) = 0.307
31%
(b) Calculate the percentage of homozygous recessives in the population.

(0.81)2 = 0.656
66%
2. An allele W, for white wool, is dominant over allele w, for black wool. In a sample of 900 sheep, 891 are
white and 9 are black. Calculate the allelic frequencies within this population, assuming that the
population is in H-W equilibrium.

q2 = 9/900 = 0.01 so q = 0.1.

Frequency of W = 90% and frequency of w = 10%.

3. In a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of the recessive homozygote

genotype of a certain trait is 0.09. Calculate the percentage of individuals homozygous for the dominant
allele.

P= 0.7 p2 = (0.7) 2 = 0.49 or 49%

4. In a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, 38 % of the individuals are recessive

homozygotes for a certain trait. In a population of 14,500, calculate the percentage of homozygous
dominant individuals and heterozygous individuals.

P2 = (0.3835)2 = 0.1471 x 14,500 = 2133

Q2 = 2(0.6164)(0.3835) = 0.4727 x 14,500 = 6855

5. Allele T, for the ability to taste a particular chemical, is dominant over allele t, for the inability to taste
the chemical. Four hundred university students were surveyed and 64 were found to be nontasters.
Calculate the percentage of heterozygous students. Assume that the population is in H-W equilibrium.

64/400 = 0.16 = q2.

q = 0.40

p + q = 1; p = 0.6.

2pq = 0.48; 48%

 6. In humans, the Rh factor genetic information is inherited from our parents, but it is inherited
independently of the ABO blood type alleles. In humans, Rh+ individuals have the Rh antigen on their
red blood cells, while Rh− individuals do not. There are two different alleles for
the Rh factor known as Rh+ and rh. Assume that a dominant gene Rh produces the Rh+ phenotype,
and that the recessive rh allele produces the Rh− phenotype.

In a population that is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, if 160 out of 200 individuals are Rh+,
calculate the frequencies of both alleles.

40 = q2 = 0.2
200

q = q2 = 0.2= 0.4472 = q
p = 1. 0.4472 = 0.5527 = p

7. In corn, kernel color is governed by a dominant allele for white color (W) and by a recessive allele (w).
A random sample of 100 kernels from a population that is in H-W equilibrium reveals that 9 kernels are
yellow (ww) and 91 kernels are white.

(a) Calculate the frequencies of the yellow and white alleles in this population.

9/100 = q2 = 0.09; q = 0.3. This is the frequency of w.

p + q = 1; p = 0.70. This is the frequency of W.

(b) Calculate the percentage of this population that is heterozygous.

2(0.3)(0.7) = 0.42 or 42%

8. A rare disease which is due to a recessive allele (a) that is lethal when homozygous, occurs
within a specific population at a frequency of one in a million. How many individuals in a town
with a population of 14,000 can be expected to carry this allele?

q2 = 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 so q = 0.001.

p + q = 1; p = 0.999.

Carriers are heterozygous; 2pq = 0.00099, now multiply that number by 14,000 to get the number of
individuals that are carriers = 28 individuals.
Questions 9 & 10 refer to the following situation:

Two Siamese and three Persian cats survive a shipwreck and are carried on driftwood to a previously
uninhabited tropical island. All five cats have normal ears, but one carries the recessive allele f or folded ears
(his genotype is Ff).

9. Calculate the frequencies of alleles F and f in the cat population of this island.

p2 =4/5=0.8 p=√0.8=0.9 q = 1 – p = 1 – 0.9 = 0.1

10. If you assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium for these alleles (admittedly very improbable), about how
many cats would you expect to have folded ears when the island population reaches 20,000?

q2 = (0.1)2 = 0.01 (0.01)(20000) = 200

11. In a certain African population, 4 % of the population is born with sickle cell anemia (aa). Calculate the
percentage of individuals who enjoy the selective advantage of the sickle-cell gene (increased resistance
to malaria)?

q2 = 0.04 q = √0.04 = 0.2 p = 1 – q = 1 – 0.2 = 0.8 2pq = (2)(0.8)(0.2) = 0.32 32%

12. In the United States, approximately one child in 10,000 is born with PKU (phenylketonuria), a
syndrome that affects individuals homozygous for the recessive allele (aa).

(a) Calculate the frequency of this allele in the population.

q = 2 q = 0.0001 = 0.01
(b) Calculate the frequency of the normal allele.

p + q = 1 thus, p = 1 – q = 1 – 0.01 = 0.99

(c) Calculate the percentage of carriers of the trait within the population.

2pq= 2(0.01)(0.99) = 0.0198 0.0198 x 10,000 =198

13. In Caucasian humans, hair straightness or curliness is thought to be governed by a single pair of alleles
showing partial dominance. Individuals with straight hair are homozygous for the Is allele, while those
with curly hair are homozygous for the Ic allele. Individuals with wavy hair are heterozygous (IsIc).
In a population of 1,000 individuals, 245 were found to have straight hair, 393 had curly hair, and
362 had wavy hair.

(a) Calculate the allelic frequencies of the Is and Ic alleles.

Phenotype (genotype) # Is alleles # Ic alleles

Straight (IsIs) 490 0
Wavy (IsIc) 362 262
Curly (IcIc) 0 786
Total: p = 852 ÷ 2,000 = 0.43 q = 1,148 ÷ 2,000 = 0.57

(b) Is this population in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? Justify your answer. Your explanation should
include a chi-square goodness of fit test.
Individuals Straight Wavy Curly
q 2 = (0.43)2 2pq = 2(0.43)(0.57)(1,000) q 2 = (0.57)2
(1,000) = 185 = 490 (1,000) = 325
Expected
Expected
Observed 245 362 393
(o – e) -60 498 -68
The null hypothesis, H0, is that the population is in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium. In order to
reject that hypothesis, you must not only calculate Chi-square but interpret the chi-square value
using the table above considering two degrees of freedom and focusing on the probability
(p) = 0.05 (95%) row.
Our calculated number of 67.1 is far greater than the critical value of 5.99 from the table, thus we
REJECT the null hypothesis and conclude that our population is not in Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium. Thus, evolution is indeed taking place.