A large population of laboratory animals has been allowed to breed randomly for a number of generations. After several generations, 25% of the animals display a recessive trait (aa), the same percentage as at the beginning of the breeding program.
The rest of the animals show the dominant phenotype, with heterozygotes indistinguishable from the homozygous dominants.
What is the estimated frequency of allele A in the gene pool?
A) 0.25
B) 0.50
C) 0.75
D) 0.125

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since we know that 25% of the animals display the recessive trait (aa), we can assume that aa makes up 0.25 of the population. This means that q^2 = 0.25. Solving for q, we get q = 0.5. Since p + q = 1, we can solve for p by subtracting q from 1, giving us p = 0.5. Therefore, the frequency of allele A in the gene pool is 0.5.

A Large Population of Laboratory Animals Has Been Allowed to Breed