In a given population of Drosophila,curly wings (c )is recessive to the wild-type condition of straight wings (c⁺ ).You isolate a population of 35 curly winged flies,70 flies that are heterozygous for straight wings,and 45 that are homozygous for straight wings.What is the frequency of alleles in this population?
A) 35% c; 45% c⁺
B) 46.7% c; 53.3% c⁺
C) 50% c; 50% c⁺
D) 55% c; 45% c⁺
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The frequency of alleles can be calculated using the Hardy-Weinberg equation: p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1, where p is the frequency of the c⁺ allele and q is the frequency of the c allele.

In this case, we can calculate q^2 directly by dividing the number of homozygous curly winged flies (35) by the total number of flies (150): 35/150 = 0.2333. Since curly wings is recessive, q^2 represents the frequency of the homozygous recessive (c) genotype.

To calculate q, we take the square root of q^2: sqrt(0.2333) = 0.4832. This represents the frequency of the c allele, since it is the only other allele in the population.

To calculate p, we subtract q from 1: 1 - 0.4832 = 0.5168. This represents the frequency of the c⁺ allele.

Therefore, the frequency of alleles in this population is approximately 46.7% c and 53.3% c⁺ (answer choice B).

In a Given Population of Drosophila,curly Wings (C )Is Recessive