A population of Drosophila simulans carries three alleles at the white locus: the wild-type allele at 86 percent, w₁ at 9 percent, and w₂ at 5 percent.What can we say about this population? A) There must be other alleles that have not been sampled. B) The population is polymorphic. C) w₁ must be dominant to w₂. D) w₂ must be dominant to w₁. E) The white locus has pleiotropic effects.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that there are three alleles present in the population indicates that it is polymorphic, meaning that there is more than one allele at the locus. Option A is not necessarily true, as it is possible that these are the only three alleles present in the population. The information given does not provide sufficient evidence to determine whether one allele is dominant to the other, so options C and D are not necessarily true. Option E is not supported by the information given.

A Population of Drosophila Simulans Carries Three Alleles at the White