Biology 180 Practice Exam

24 Oct 2022 Exam Work Group Members Names (up to including yourself)

1. This graph plots average body mass (in kilograms)

and average heart mass (in grams) for several
species in the dog family and cat family.

a. Is the relationship between dependent and

independent variables correct as graphed, or should
the x- and y-axes be switched? Explain your
reasoning.

b. Look at the numbers labeled on each axis. What

type of scale is this? Why are the data plotted on this
type of scale?

c. In this class you are learning about "simple linear

regression," which means that you are analyzing the
impact of a single independent or predictor variable
(x axis) on the dependent or response variable (y
axis). In more advanced courses, you will learn about multiple regression, which analyzes the impact of more
than one independent or predictor variable on the dependent or response variable. With the data shown here,
researchers did a multiple linear regression with two x-variables: body mass and species (cat versus dog). The
result shows that species matters--the p-value for that x-variable is < 0.05. Interpret this finding.

2. This plot shows how the % of oil in corn kernels changed over 100 years, in an experiment where individuals
with the highest oil content were selected as the parents of the next generation. After only a few generations of
selection, average % oil in the experimental population was already much higher than the % oil that existed in
any individual in the source population. And after 100 generations, % oil still appears to be increasing.

Propose two hypotheses to explain how this is possible.

3. Suppose you study our local Alabaster nudibranchs in the Puget Sound. (Nudibranchs look like gorgeous
sea slugs.) You measure the genotypes of 100 nudibranchs at the NDT genetic locus in 2011 and again in
2016. The frequencies are shown in the table.

genotype

DD DN NN NT

2011 10 44 46 0

2016 22 26 50 2

a. What are the allele frequencies? Fill out the following table of allele frequencies in each of the two years.
Enter your answers as frequencies with 2 decimal places.

b. Using the 2016 allele frequencies, what are the expected genotype frequencies according to the Hardy-
Weinberg model? Enter your answers as frequencies with 2 decimal places.

c. Give two assumptions of Hardy-Weinberg that may not be true for the nudibranchs and explain how each
false assumption could lead from the 2011 data to the 2016 data.

4. You survey a population of E. coli (haploid, asexual); allele A1 is at frequency 0.85 and allele A2 is at
frequency 0.15. Then for 100 generations, all of the assumptions behind H-W are met in the population.

a. What will allele frequencies be at the end of this interval?

b. Albinism in humans is caused by a recessive allele a. You survey an island population of people and find the
following genotype frequencies: AA = 0.96; Aa = 0.03; aa = 0.01.

i. What are the observed allele frequencies? Report your answers as frequencies with 3 decimal places

ii. What genotype frequencies are expected under the null model (H-W)? Report your answers as
frequencies with 3 decimal places

c. In this population, is the A gene in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium? If yes, explain what this means for the
albinism trait in this population. If not, explain the nature of the discrepancy. (Assume that the answer is yes if
each and every observed genotype frequency is within 2.5% of the expected frequency.)